SOCIETY AND POLITICS IN LATIN AMERICA
Grado en Sociología
Curso 2025/2026
1. Datos de la asignatura
(Fecha última modificación: 30-04-25 12:07)- Código
- 109661
- Plan
- 2020
- ECTS
- 4.00
- Carácter
- OPTATIVA
- Curso
- Optativa 3º y 4º
- Periodicidad
- Primer Semestre
- Idioma
- ESPAÑOL
- Área
- CIENCIA POLÍTICA Y DE LA ADMINISTRACIÓN
- Departamento
- Derecho Público General
- Plataforma Virtual
Datos del profesorado
- Profesor/Profesora
- Profesor/Profesora PENDIENTE de asignar
- Grupo/s
- Único
- Centro
- -
- Departamento
- -
- Área
- -
- Despacho
- -
- Horario de tutorías
- -
- URL Web
- -
- -
- Teléfono
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2. Recomendaciones previas
3. Objetivos
Enhanced Capacities: CB1, CB2. CB3. CB4. CB5.
Focus on the relationship between Society and Political Systems
This class focuses on a general introduction to Latin American Society and Politics. The class will review the most pressing social issues that affect the region, such as racism, authoritarianism, and gender issues, including specific national cases. Emphasis will be put on representative democracy elements, originated on electoral processes. Political culture, social cleavages, leadership, parties, party systems and Executive-Legislative relations, will act as central subjects.
In relation to this, the objectives of the course are the following:
1. To look at the various theoretical and conceptual frameworks on the relationship between society and political systems, such as dependence theory, cultural explanations, behaviorism, rational choice and neoinstitutionalism;
2. To apply these theoretical and conceptual frameworks on socio political development to country case studies;
3. To critique the different explanatory paradigms in relation with socio political development; and,
4. To come up with future possible evolution of those societies and political systems.
4. Competencias a adquirir | Resultados de Aprendizaje
5. Contenidos
Teoría.
The lectures for the class are as follows:
Class One: The Concept of State and Latin American States. State Capacity in Latin America
Class Two: The Concept of Democracy. Latin-American society and transition to democracy: its characteristics and legacy. Problems for democratic consolidation
Class Three: The form of government: Presidentialism in Latin America and its consequences Class Four: Electoral Systems in Latin America.
Class Five: Party Politics in Latin America: institutionalization of political parties Class Six: The Judiciary in Latin America.
Class Seven: Society in Latin America: statistics of religion, crime, education, gender, human development. Class Eight: Federalism in Latin America.
Class Nine: Direct Democracy in Latin America. Class Ten: Presentation of term paper proposals
Class Eleven: Democratic Innovations in Latin America Class Twelve: Indigenous People in Latin America.
Class Thirteen: The quality of democracy matters. Chile, Costa Rica and Uruguay in comparative perspective. Societies, leadership, party system, and electoral behaviour
Classes Fourteen and Fifteen: Presentation of term papers
6. Metodologías Docentes
7. Distribución de las Metodologías Docentes
8. Recursos
Libros de consulta para el alumno.
Manuel Alcántara (ed.) Politics and Politicians in Latina America. Boulder: Lynne Rienner. 2008
Carlos Scarstasini, Ernesto Stein y Mariano Tommasi (ed) How Democracy Works. Political Institutions, Actors and Arenas in Latin America Policymaking. Washington: Inter American Development Bank. 2010
Katherine Isbester (ed) The Paradox of Democracy in Latin America. Ten Country Studies of Division and Resilience. Toronto: Toronto University Press 2010
Ronald H. Schneider. Contemporary Latin American Politics. Boulder: Westview Press. 2010 New reference material will be delivered at the beginning of the course.
Otras referencias bibliográficas, electrónicas o cualquier otro tipo de recurso.
Instituto de Iberoamérica, Universidad de Salamanca: http://americo.usal.es
América latina Hoy, Revista de Ciencias Sociales: http://campus.usal.es/~revistas_trabajo/index.php/1130-2887 Observatorio de Instituciones Representativas (OIR): http://www.usal.es/iberoame/OIR
IIDH-CAPEL: http://www.iidh.ed.cr/comunidades/redelectoral/
Universidad de Texas-Austin: http://lanic.utexas.edu
Latin America Data Base (LADB): http://ladb.unm.edu/spanish/info/history.php3 Freedom House: http://www.freedomhouse.org/
Inter American Dialogue: http://www.thedialogue.org/
Red Interamericana para la Democracia: http://www.redinter.org/index2.html Unidad para la Promoción de la Democracia OEA: http://www.upd.oas.org/lab/ Asociación Latinoamericana de Ciencia Política: http://www.fafich.ufmg.br/alacip/ Asociación Española de Ciencia Política: http://www.aecpa.es
Fundación para sistemas electorales (IFES): http://www.ifes.org/
9. Evaluación
Criterios de evaluación.
20%. Attendance and participation
40%. Final term paper: An essay, of five thousand words approximately, regarding and issue previously agreed with the teacher
40% Take home exam under the basis of a proposed text by the professor five days prior to the exam date
Sistemas de evaluación.
Oral and written presentations can be made in English or Spanish
Recomendaciones para la evaluación.
The course is intended to encourage students to see Latin American politics as an important arena in world politics. It hopes to provide the theoretical and conceptual handles by which politics in the area can be understood as well as applied to country cases studies which will be shared in class. It is hoped that students will be able to learn from each other’s political system case studies.
Recomendaciones para la recuperación:
An essay, of six thousand words approximately, regarding an issue previously agreed with the teacher.