Boston University

Political Economy of Latin America

CAS IR 590/PO 550

Fall 2007

Mondays 1-4:00 p.m.

KCB 103

Strom Thacker	Office: 152 Bay State Road, No. 446
Email: sthacker@bu.edu	Telephone: 353.7160
Course web site: http://www.bu.edu/sthacker	Office hours: Thurs., 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; & by appt.

Objectives:

This course examines the principal issues in 20th century Latin American Political Economy (LAPE). It centers on the dynamic interaction between politics and economics in Latin America’s quest for economic, political and social development. After introducing the problem, the actors and the traditional analytical frameworks used to explain LAPE, the course examines four historical cases of development. The bulk of the course then focuses on more contemporary issues in LAPE and a series of approaches that attempt to explain them. The course compares paths of industrialization in Latin America and East Asia in order to understand why some countries develop while others stagnate. It then goes on to address the politics of economic crisis and reform, including the debt crisis, trade liberalization, integration in the Americas, privatization, direct foreign investment, financial reform, and currency crises across the region. It concludes by examining gender, ethnicity, and environmental issues, the politics of poverty and economic inequality, and the relationship between political and economic restructuring.

Prerequisites:

               EC 101 and EC 102 or their equivalents are prerequisites for this course. Students requesting an exception should see the instructor upon entering the class.

Requirements:

               Grades will be based on 1) class participation, 2) a 5-page reading commentary, and 3) a research paper of approximately 15 pages for undergraduates and 20 pages for graduate students. Students will hand in (and present orally) a 2-page, typewritten reaction to the week’s readings at the beginning of each Thursday’s class. These short papers will checked but not graded, and will count toward class participation. (They must be complete to receive full credit.) Instructions for the reading commentary will be handed out the first day of class, or can be found at http://www.bu.edu/sthacker/590commentary.htm. Before beginning their research papers, students will submit a written proposal as well as a preliminary outline and working bibliography for their papers by the dates listed below. This class requires Internet and email access.

Academic integrity

All work for this class is expected to be individual, i.e., not the result of collaboration or a group project. It is imperative that students understand and follow the guidelines of proper source citation. For guidance, see the guideline for source citation on page three of this syllabus or at http://www.bu.edu/sthacker/source.htm, and the CAS Academic Conduct Code (available at CAS or at http://www.bu.edu/cas/academics/programs/conductcode.html). Cases of academic misconduct will be referred to the Dean’s office.

Absences and late work:

               Students are expected to attend all class sessions and to meet all obligations at the scheduled times, unless documentation is given excusing an absence for medical, religious or personal reasons, or for official university business. Students must notify the instructor as soon as possible (preferably in advance) of the reason for the absence. Late papers will be penalized five (5) points for the first day late, and three (3) points each day thereafter.

Key dates:

•      October 1: Hand in written paper proposal, 1-2 pages

•      October 29: Hand in preliminary outline and working bibliography

•      November 26 : Hand in final research papers at the beginning of class

Grading:

•      30%          Class participation

•      20%          Reading commentary, due at the beginning of class on the assigned date

•      50%          Research paper

•      Improvement over the course of the semester and exceptional class participation can raise a borderline grade.

Grades are calculated on a 100-point scale, converted to letter grades as follows:

93-100          A	90-92            A-	87-89            B+	83-86            B	80-82            B-
77-79            C+	73-76            C	70-72            C-	60-69            D	Below 60     F

Readings:

               Students are expected to attend all class sessions and complete the assigned readings before class. This course will be run as frequently as possible in seminar format, and class discussions will require a thorough understanding of the readings.

               The following required texts are available for purchase at the Boston University Bookstore and on reserve at Pardee Library, School of Management, 595 Commonwealth Ave. (call numbers in parentheses):

•      Franko, Patrice. 2007. The Puzzle of Latin American Economic Development, Third Edition. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield. ISBN 978-0742553538. (call no. pending)

•      Frieden, Jeffry, Manuel Pastor, Jr., and Michael Tomz (FPT), eds. 2000. Modern Political Economy and Latin America: Theory and Policy. Boulder: Westview Press. ISBN 978-0813324180. (HC125 .M556 2000)

•      Vanden, Harry E. and Gary Prevost. 2006. Politics of Latin America: The Power Game, second edition. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195188080. (JL960 .V36 2006)

•      Whitehead, Laurence, ed. 2002. Emerging Market Democracies: East Asia and Latin America. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0801872198. (JQ1499 A91 E44 2002)

*Other readings are available on-line via http://courseinfo.bu.edu/courses/07fallcasir590_a1/ (click Course Documents, then Course Packet) and marked by an asterisk (*).

USE OF SOURCE MATERIALS*

Correct use and acknowledgment of source materials is vital to any research project. Only through accurate documentation can the reader distinguish the writer's original contribution from those of others. This allows the reader (1) to consult the source of a fact or opinion if he or she so desires and (2) to assign credit or blame judiciously — to the writer or to the writer's sources. Moreover, failure to acknowledge source material properly constitutes plagiarism and is subject to the appropriate penalties.

The basic rule is this: If you use material drawn from something beside your own first-hand experience, and the material is not “common knowledge,” that is, something that “everybody knows,” give credit to your source.

If you quote directly, even a word or phrase, use quotation marks and footnote.**

If you paraphrase (i.e., take the ideas and put them into your own words), footnote.

If you organize material in the unique manner of someone else, give that person credit in the text and, usually, in a footnote as well.

A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself: “Could a reader who consulted the works listed in my bibliography recognize in my paper sentences, phrases, and even striking words; patterns of organization; interpretations or attitudes or points of view or whole ideas or facts, as deriving from any one of these sources?” If the reader could, you must footnote those passages. Any clear parallels between your paper and any of its sources that a reader would discover from consulting these sources, you should already have told him or her through footnotes or informal acknowledgments.

If you borrow everything in your paper, footnote everything in your paper!

Once your paper is turned in, the reader has the right to assume that whatever appears in the paper, unless otherwise indicated, is your own work or is “common knowledge.”

It should be noted that a paper that is merely a patchwork of other people’s words and ideas is a poor paper. Because of the particular slant on the topic you have been asked to consider; because of the particular combination of sources you have consulted; because of the independence of your own creative mind, your paper should be organically different from any of the various sources that have contributed to it.

COURSE OUTLINE

PART I: DEVELOPMENT IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

Sep. 10: The game of LAPE: history and background

•Vanden and Prevost (VP) Introduction, and Chapters 1 and 2

•Franko, Chapters 1 and 2

Sep. 17: Issues, actors and theories

•VP, Chapters 3, 7, 8 and 9

•Frieden, Pastor and Tomz (FPT), Introduction and Chapters 1, 2 and 6 (Editors, Arndt, Krueger, Frieden)

Film: Capital Sins: Authoritarianism and Democratization

Sep. 24: Historical cases: Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico

•VP, Chapters 12, 14, 15 and 16

•FPT, Chapters 11, 12 (Coatsworth, Leff)

•*Van Evera, Stephen. “Memo 6: How to Write a Paper.” Guide to Methodology for Students of Political Science. Cambridge, MA: MIT.

Film: The Garden of Forking Paths: Dilemmas of National Development

PART II: CROSS-REGIONAL COMPARISONS

Oct. 1: Hand in written paper proposal

Paths of development in Latin America and East Asia

•*Gereffi, Gary. 1990. “Paths of Industrialization: An Overview,” in Manufacturing Miracles: Paths of Industrialization in Latin America and East Asia, ed. Gary Gereffi and Donald L. Wyman, 3-31. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

•Franko, Chapter 3

•Whitehead, Chapter 1 (Whitehead)

•FPT, Chapters 14-17 (Miller, Díaz Alejandro, Cardoso & Helwege, Mahon)

Oct. 9: International and domestic explanations

•Whitehead, Chapters 3-6 (Cheng & Chu; Silva; Maxfield; Fukuyama & Marwah)

Oct. 15: The role of the state

•Whitehead, Chapters 7-9 (Redding; Basu and King; Whitehead)

•FPT, Chapters 4 and 5 (Levy, Pradhan)

Film: Big Business and the Ghost of Confucius

PART III: THE POLITICS OF CRISIS AND REFORM

Oct. 22: Debt and stabilization

•Franko, Chapters 4 and 5

•FPT, Chapters 3 and 22 (Williamson, Sachs)

•*Teichman, Judith. 2004. “The World Bank and Policy Reform in Mexico and Argentina.” Latin American Politics and Society 46(1): 39-74.

Oct. 29: Hand in preliminary outline and working bibliography

Privatization and foreign direct investment (FDI)

•Franko, Chapters 6 and 7

•FPT, Chapters 21, 24 and 25 (Baer & Hargis; Bergsman & Shen; Haggard)

Film: Emerging Powers: Brazil

Nov. 5: Trade and regional integration

•Franko, Chapters 8 and 9

•FPT, Chapters 8, 9, 18-20 (Rodrik; Haggard & Webb; Dornbusch; Pastor & Wise; Manzetti)

Film: Emerging Powers: Mexico

Nov. 19: Finance, capital market reforms and currency crises

•FPT, Chapters 23 and 29 (Calvo, Leiderman & Reinhart, Maxfield)

•*Smith, Peter H. 1997. “Political Dimensions of the Peso Crisis,” in Mexico 1994: Anatomy of an Emerging Market Crash, ed. Sebastian Edwards and Moisés Naím, 31-53. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment.

•*Ferreira, Afonso and Giuseppe Tullio. 2002. “The Brazilian Exchange Rate Crisis of January 1999.” Journal of Latin American Studies 34(1): 143-64.

•*Pastor, Manuel and Carol Wise. 2001. “From Poster Child to Basket Case.” Foreign Affairs 80(6): 60-72.

•Whitehead, Chapter 2 (Haggard)

PART IV: SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

Nov. 26: Final papers due at beginning of class

Gender, ethnicity and the environment

•VP, Chapters 4 and 5

•Franko, Chapter 14

•FPT, Chapters 33, 34 and 35 (Palmer, Kaimowitz, Kyle & Cunha)

Film: The Take

Dec. 3: Income distribution and poverty

•Franko, Chapters 10-13

•FPT, Chapters 31 and 32 (IDB, UNCTAD)

•*Hojman, David E. 1996. “Poverty and Inequality in Chile: Are Democratic Politics and Neoliberal Economics Good for You?” Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 38(2): 73-96.

Dec. 10: Economic reform and democracy

•Franko, Chapter 15

•FPT, Chapters 26, 27, and 30 (Geddes, Haggard, Boylan)

•*Skidmore, Thomas E. 2004. “Brazil’s Persistent Income Inequality: Lessons from History.” Latin American Politics and Society 46(2): 133-50.

•*McClintock, Cynthia and James H. Lebovic. 2006. “Correlates of Levels of Democracy in Latin America During the 1990s.” Latin American Politics and Society 48(2):29-59.

•*Domínguez, Jorge I. 1998. “Free Politics and Free Markets in Latin America.” Journal of Democracy 9(4): 70-84. Also available on-line (via a BU account) at http://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_democracy/v009/9.4dominguez.html

•*Weyland, Kurt. 2004. “Neoliberalism and Democracy in Latin America: A Mixed Record.” Latin American Politics and Society 46(1): 135-57.

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* This statement is adapted from a document entitled “Use of Source Materials,” Pomona College Department of Government, Claremont, CA.

** Parenthetical references [e.g., (Smith 1991, 234)] may be substituted for footnotes.