Sub-navigation links

Home > Courses > Political Science > Democratization in Asia, Africa, and Latin America

Calendar

CLASS # IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES READINGS WEB LINKS
1
  • Housekeeping
2
  • Map Test
  • Huntington, Samuel P. "What?" In The Third Wave. Pp. 3-26.
  • Karl, Terry, and Philippe C. Schmitter. "What Democracy is...and is Not."
  • Diamond, Larry. "Is the Third Wave of Democratization Over?"
  • Zakaria, Fareed. "The Rise of Illiberal Democracy."
3
  • Dahl, Robert. "Does Polyarchy Matter?"
  • Diamond, Larry. "Defining and Developing Democracy."
  • Huntington, Samuel P. "What?"
  • Machiavelli, Niccolo. "The Masses are Wiser and More Constant than a Prince." The Discourses, Book 1.
  • Madison, James. "Numbers 10 and 51."
  • Huntington, Samuel P. "The Political Gap."
  • Dahl, Robert. Democracy and Its Critics. Pp. 52-79.
  • Sen, Amartya. "Democracy as a Universal Value."
  • Dugger, Cecilia. "Why Democracy Means So Little to Pakistan's Poor."
  • Onishi, Norimitsu. "Political Reforms Reach Nigeria's Gasoline Pumps."
4
  • Class Debate: Does Democracy Matter?
  • Paper #1 due three days after class 4

 
  • Freedom in the World. Chapter on Singapore.
  • Kingsbury, Damien. "Singapore: The Corporate State". In South-East Asia: A Political Profile. Pp. 325-351.
  • Zakaria, Fareed. "Culture is Destiny: A Conversation with Lee Kuan Yew."
  • Jung, Kim Dae. "Is Culture Destiny? The Myth of Anti-Democratic Values. A Response to Lee Kuan Yew."
  • Fukuyama, Francis. "Confucianism and Democracy."
  • Mydans, Seth. "Soapbox Orators Stretch the Limits of Democracy."

For Further Reading (Not Required):

  • Bell, Daniel A. East Meets West.
  • Emmerson, Donald K. "Singapore and the 'Asian Values' Debate."
  • Lanser, Thomas R. "Rights, Respect, and 'Asian Values'."
  • Freeman, Michael. "Human Rights, Democracy, and 'Asian Values'."
5
  • Huntington, Samuel P. The Third Wave. Pp. 31-108.
  • Rustow, Dankwart. "Transitions to Democracy: Toward a Dynamic Model."

For Further Reading (Not Required):

  • On Economic Development
    • Lipset, Seymour Martin. Political Man. Pp. 27-30.
    • Haggard, Stephan., and Robert R. Kaufman. The Political Economy of Democratic Transition. Pp. 25-44.
    • Dahl, Robert A. Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. Pp. 82-80.
  • On Social Cleavages:
    • Dahl, Robert A. Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. Pp. 81-123.
  • On Political Culture:
    • Putnam, Robert. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Pp. 3-12, 148-162.
    • Almond, Gabriel, and Sidney Verba. The Civic Culture. Pp. 1-44, 307-315.
    • Dahl, Robert A. Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. Pp. 124-188.
6
  • Film: Herod's Law
  • Lawson, Chappell. "Mexico's Unfinished Transition: Democratization and Authoritarian Enclaves in Mexico." Pp. 267-287.
  • Cornelius, Wayne A. Mexican Politics in Transition: The Breakdown of a One-Party Regime. Pp. 1-29, 51-98.
  • Camp, Roderic Ai. Politics in Mexico: The Decline of Authoritarianism. Pp. 179-205, 225-252.
  • Freedom in the World. Chapter on Mexico.
7
  • Video: Tableau Ferraille
  • Freedom in the World. Chapter on Brazil.
  • Schaffer, Frederic. Democracy in Translation: Understanding Politics in an Unfamiliar Culture. Pp. ix-xii, 1-20, 54-138.

For Further Reading (Not required):

  • Galvan, Dennis. "Political Turnover and Social Change in Senegal."
8
  • Paper #2 due three days after class 8
  • Schaffer, Frederic C. "Clean Elections and the 'Great Unwashed': Class Divide and Electoral Reform in the Philippines."
  • Anderson, Benedict. "Cacique Democracy in the Philippine."
  • Pinches, Michael. "The Working Class Experience of Shame, Inequality, and People Power in Tatalon, Manila."
  • Lande, Carl H. "The Return of 'People Power' in the Philippines."
  • Tordesillas, Ellen. "EDSA Tres."
9
  • Video: Central Station
  • Coronel, Sheila S. "Cavite: The Killing Fields of Commerce."
  • Holston, James. "The Misrule of Law: Land and Usurpation in Brazil."
  • Colburn, Forrest D. "Crime in Latin America."
10
  • Video: Kiss of the Spider Woman
  • Class Debate: Prosecute and Punish, or Forgive and Forget?
  • Huntington, Samuel P. "The Torturer Problem" and "The Praetorian Problem."
  • Stepan, Alfred. Rethinking Military Politics: Brazil and the Southern Cone. Pp. 68-127.
  • Hunter, Wendy. "Politicians Against Soldiers: Contesting the Military in Post-Authoritarian Brazil."
  • Langguth, A. J. Hidden Terrors: The Hidden Truth About U.S. Police Operations in Latin America. Pp. 160-165.
  • Freedom in the World. Chapter on Brazil.

Recommended Readings (for debate):

  • Transitional Justice:
    • Mendez, Juan. "Accountability for Past Abuses."
    • Zalaquett, Jose. "Balancing Ethical Imperatives and Political Constraints: The Dilemma of New Democracies Confronting Past Human Rights Violations."
    • Benomar, Jamal. "Justice After Transitions."
    • Malamud-goti, Jamie. "Transitional Governments in the Breach: Why Punish State Criminals?"
    • Rosenberg, Tina. "Overcoming the Legacies of Dictatorship."
    • Amnesty International. "Policy Statement on Impunity."
  • Human Rights Abuses Under Military Rule:
    • Weschler, Lawrence. A Miracle, A Universe: Settling Accounts with Torturers. Pp. 7-79.
    • Languth, A. J. Hidden Terrors: The Truth About U.S. Police Operations in Latin America. Pp. 117-122.
    • Timmerman, Jacobo. Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number.
  • Civil Military Relations:
    • Rial, Juan. "Armies and Civil Society in Latin America."
    • Rizzo de Oliveira, Eliezer. "Brazilian National Defense Policy and Civil-Military Relations in the Government of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso."
    • Bitencourt, Emilio Luis. "Civil-Military Relations in the Americas for the 21st Century: A Latin American Perspective."
11
  • Freedom in the World. Chapter on Nigeria.
  • Achebe, Chinua. A Man of the People.
  • Ibelema, Minabere. "Nigeria: The Politics of Marginalization."

For further reading (not required):

  • "Nigeria: Strength Through Unity."
  • Coleman, James S. Nigeria: Background to Nationalism. Pp. 10-60.
12
  • Paper #3 due three days after class 12
  • Freedom in the World. Chapter on India.
  • Lipjhart, Arend. "The Puzzle of Indian Democracy: A Consocianational Interpretation."
  • Kohli, Atul. "Enduring Another Election."
  • Manor, James. "Making Federalism Work."
  • Varshney, Ashotosh. "Why Democracy Survives."
  • Sathe, Vasant. "For a Directly Elected President of India."
13
  • Current Events Discussion

 
 

 

Your use of the MIT OpenCourseWare site and course materials is subject to our Creative Commons License and other terms of use.

Creative Commons - some rights reserved
OCW Consortium