LPINT6248 Contemporary Politics of Latin America and Spain Course Descriptor

Course Overview

This course focuses on the processes of democratisation in Latin America and Spain from a comparative perspective. It seeks to contrast the different models of transition to democracy followed by the various states in the wider region known as Iberoamerica together with the middle and long-term consequences of the transitions. Students on this course will advance their analytical skills by applying comparative politics concepts, theories, and methodologies to the in-depth study of the politics and development of Latin America and Spain. Students will develop an active understanding of history, institutional design and policy-making of the state in Latin America and Spain. The course will expose students to a variety of materials in order to enhance knowledge both of context and of specific events, while developing critical skills of analysis, appraising the implications of events and contexts at political, historical, economic, and social level.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

Subject Specific Skills

Transferable and Employability Skills

Teaching and Learning

This course has a dedicated Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) page with a syllabus and range of additional resources (e.g. readings, question prompts, tasks, assignment briefs, discussion boards) to orientate and engage students in their studies.

The scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course are:

Lectures/seminars/labs/studios/workshops

40 scheduled hours – typically including induction, consolidation or revision, and assessment activity hours.

• Version 1:all sessions in the same sized group

OR

• Version 2: most of the sessions in larger groups; some of the sessions in smaller groups

Faculty hold regular ‘office hours’, which are opportunities for students to drop in or sign up to explore ideas, raise questions, or seek targeted guidance or feedback, individually or in small groups. 

Students are to attend and participate in all the scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course and to manage their directed learning and independent study.

Indicative total learning hours for this course: 150 hours

Assessment

Both formative and summative assessments are used as part of this course, with purely formative opportunities typically embedded within interactive teaching sessions, office hours, and/or the VLE.

Summative Assessments

Students will apply comparative politics methodologies and theories to the analysis of the political, economic, and social evolution of different countries across Latin America and Spain: 

Further information about the assessments can be found in the Course Syllabus.

Feedback

Students will receive formative and summative feedback in a variety of ways, written (e.g. marked up on assignments, through email or the VLE) or oral (e.g. as part of interactive teaching sessions or in office hours).

Indicative Reading

Note: Comprehensive and current reading lists are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative reading list provided below is for a general guide and part of the approval/modification process only.

• Hellinger, Daniel C. Comparative Politics of Latin America: Democracy at Last?, 2nd ed. (Abingdon: Routledge, 2015).
• Gunther, Richard, José Ramón Montero and Joan Botella, Democracy in modern Spain (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004).
• O’Donnell, G., Schmitter P. C. and Whitehead, L. (eds.). (1986) Transitions From Authoritarian Rule: Latin America: Prospects for Democracy: Volume 2, Maryland: John Hopkins University Press.

Indicative Topics

Note: Comprehensive and current topics for courses are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative topics provided below are used as a general guide and part of the approval/modification process only.

• The Spanish ‘model’ of democratisation
• The northern hegemon: the USA, democracy and security in Mexico and Central America
• Democracy in the Andean region: The perils of institutional design
• Democracy in the Southern Cone: Democracy a lo Latino