POLS Professor Ernesto Calvo
T-Th 11:30-1:00 Office Hours: T-Th 1-2:30
Spring 2003 PGH 414 – ecalvo@uh.edu
Party Politics in Latin America
This course will provide a comparative introduction to party politics and democratic governance in Latin America. The political landscape of the region has changed dramatically in the last twenty years, as most authoritarian regimes in the region gave way to democratic ones. Simultaneously, the region has experienced increasing economic turmoil, providing new challenges to the political sustainability of these emerging democracies. In this course we will explore how different parties and party systems deal with problems of democratic consolidation and economic development in the region.
The first part of the course will be more thematic in nature, discussing some key problems on Party Politics in general and in Latin America. The second part of the course will be case oriented. Course meetings will combine the format of lectures and discussion sessions of the assigned readings. Students are expected to attend all lectures, do all the assigned readings for the week, and participate in class discussion. Every student will be required to select a country of Latin America to do specific readings and research. The course grade will be the result of two short think pieces, participation, and a final exam.
Required Book:
[M&S] Scott Mainwaring and Timothy R. Scully (1995); Building democratic institutions : party systems in Latin America, Stanford University Press.
Optional Background Reading:
[MLA] Thomas E. Skidmore, Peter H. Smith; Modern Latin America,
New York : Oxford University Press, 2000.All other readings will be available electronically or on reserve at the library.
[EV] Electronic Version
[R] Reserve
Schedule
Week 1: Introduction
[M&S] Chapter 1
Week 2: A Review: Votes and Ideologues
Krehbiel "Pivotal Politics", Chapters 1 and 2.
Week 3: A Review: Electoral Rules
Nohlen, D (1996). "Electoral Systems and Electoral Reform in Latin America". In Lijphart and Waisman (1996), Institutional Design in New Democracies. Westview press. [R]
Snyder and Samuels. 2001. Devaluing the vote. Journal of Democracy. [EV]
Optional
Rae, D (1973). The political consequences of Electoral Laws. Chapter 2. Electoral Laws. [R]
Lijphart, Arend (1999) Patterns of Democracy. Chapter 8: "Electoral Systems". [R]
Week 4: Mandates and Accountability.
Stokes, Susan (2001). "Mandates and Democracy. Chapters 1 and 2. [R]
O’Donnell, Guillermo. 1998. "Horizontal Accountability in New Democracies," Journal of Democracy 9, no. 3: 112-126. [EV]
Optional
Przeworski, Stokes, and Manin (1997). Chapter 1 (Manin, Przeworski, and Stokes) and 4 (Fearon). [R]
Week 5: Presidentialism
Mainwaring and Shugart (1997). Presidentialism and Democracy in Latin America. Chapter 1 (Mainwaring and Shugart). [R]
Jones, Mark (1995); Electoral Rules and the Survival of Presidential Democracies, Chapter 1. [R]
Week 6: Ideologues in Latin America
Edward Gibson, "Conservative Party Politics in Latin America: Patterns of Electoral Mobilization in the 1980s and 1990s" in Jorge Dominguez and Abraham Lowenthal, 1996. Constructing Democratic Governance: Latin America and the Caribbean in the 1990s –Themes and Issues. Chapter 2, Pg. 26-41. [R]
Week 7: Legislatures
Cox and Morgenstern (2002). Latin America’s Reactive Assemblies and Proactive Presidents. In Morgenstern & Nacif (2002), Legislative Politics in Latin America. Cambridge. [R]
Optional:
Morgenstern (2002). Chapter 1. In Morgenstern & Nacif (2002), Legislative Politics in Latin America. Cambridge. [R]
Amorin Neto. Presidential Policy-Making and Cabinet Formation in Latin America’s presidential democracies. [EV]
Week 8: Midterm
Week 9: Argentina
[M&S] McGuire; Political Parties and Democracy in Argentina.
Optional
Mustapic (2002) Oscillating Relations: President and Congress in Argentina. In
Morgenstern & Nacif (2002), Legislative Politics in Latin America. Cambridge. [R]
Levitsky, Steven (2002). Peronism. [R]
Gibson (1997). The Populist Road to Market Reform. World Politics.[EV]
Week 10: Brazil
[M&S] Mainwaring; Brazil: Weak Parties, Feckless Democracy
Samuels: Ambassadors of the States. Selection of Chapter 1 and 7. [R]
Optional
Limongi and Cheibub. Institutional Legacies and Accountability. [EV]
Ames. Open-List proportional representation. [EV]
Week 11: Chile
[M&S] Scully; Reconstituting Party Politics in Chile
Optional
Magar, Rosemblum & Samuels. On the Absence of Centripetal Incentives in Double-Member Districts: The Case of Chile," con Marc R. Rosenblum y David Samuels, Comparative Political Studies vol. 31, núm. 6 (deciembre de 1998), pp. 714-39 [EV]
Siavelis and Valenzuela (1996). Electoral Engineering and Democratic Stability: The Legacy of Authoritarian Rule in Chile. In Lijphart and Waisman, Institutional Design in New Democracies. Westview Press. [R]
Week 12: Mexico
[M&S] Craig and Cornelius; Houses Divided: Parties and Political Reform in Mexico.
Optional
Molinar Horcasitas (1996). Changing the Balance of Power in a Hegemonic Party System: The Case of Mexico. In Lijphart and Waisman, Institutional Design in New Democracies. Westview Press. [R]
Diaz-Cayero, Magaloni, and Weingast. Federalism and Democratization in Mexico. [EV]
Calvo and Abal. [EV] Institutional Gamblers. Electoral Studies.2002.
Week 13: Peru
[M&S] Cotler. Political Parties and the Problems of Democratic Consolidation in Peru.
Optional:
Levitsky. Peru [EV]
Stokes, Susan. 1997. "Democratic Accountability and Policy Change: Economic Policy in Fujimori’s Peru." Comparative Politics Vol. 29 No. 2 (January): 209-226. [EV]
Week 14: Venezuela
[M&S] Kornblith and Levine. Venezuela: The Life and Times of the Party System.
Crisp
Readings on Chaves (current events). TBA.
Week 15: Uruguay
[M&S] Gonzales. Continuity and Change in the Uruguayan Party System
Week 16: Review .