This course explores democracy, development, and revolution in Latin America, with special attention to Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, and Nicaragua. Questions to be addressed include: why has Argentina lurched periodically from free-wheeling democracy to murderous military rule? Why is authoritarianism usually less harsh, but democracy often more shallow, in Brazil than in Argentina? How democratic are Latin America's contemporary democracies? What accounts for the success or failure of attempted social revolutions in Latin America? Why did postrevolutionary Cuba wind up with a more centrally planned economy and a more authoritarian political system than postrevolutionary Nicaragua? How much progress has each of these countries made toward creating a more affluent, educated, healthy, and equitable society? |