Document Type
Undergraduate Syllabus
Date
Spring 2025
School
Diplomacy
Course Number
DIPL 4803/6803
Course Description
This seminar provides an overview of major approaches to the study of Latin American and Caribbean politics and society. It emphasizes both a historical perspective and an analysis of current trends and issues. Using various analytical lenses, the course focuses on the different kinds of political regimes and the patterns of political change that have characterized Latin American and Caribbean countries in the 20th and 2151 centuries. We will take up several specific questions: Why have some countries in Latin America enjoyed more stable political systems than others? Why have some countries faced severe threats from guerrilla movements and even major social revolutions, while others succumbed to military coups? What explains the strengthening and then weakening of democracy in the region over time? In answering these questions, the course provides a survey of the region's political and social development with particular emphasis on four countries Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Venezuela - and on the specific issues and countries that students choose.
Recommended Citation
Goldfrank, Benjamin Ph.D., "DIPL 4803/6803 Politics and Society in Latin America and the Caribbean" (2025). Diplomacy Syllabi. 820.
https://scholarship.shu.edu/diplomacy-syllabi/820
