教學大綱 (PDF)

這個課程是為政治學的研究生所設計。雖然拉丁美洲專業的博士生可能會研讀其他資料，此課程足以提供學生準備該領域的測驗。為免不尋常的高選課人數，此課程以博士生優先，麻省學生優先。

此課程設定對拉丁美洲歷史和地理，以及對比較政治學有些熟悉的學生。對初學者有幫助的參考書籍包含Leslie Bethell編11冊《劍橋拉丁美洲史》(The Cambridge History of Latin America)（劍橋大學出版社, 1984-1995）、Thomas Skidmore 與Peter Smith的《現代拉丁美洲》(Modern Latin America)（牛津大學出版社, 2001）、Gary Wynia的《拉丁美洲發展政治學》(The Politics of Latin American Development )（劍橋大學出版社, 1990）、或John Sheahan的《拉丁美洲發展面貌》( Patterns of Development in Latin America)（普林斯頓大學出版社, 1987），還有許多各種不同的導讀書籍提供給對比較政治學感興趣的學生。

選修課程者無需西班牙語或葡萄牙語，所有閱讀資料都是英文，課堂討論和論文報告也必須以英文書寫。然而，有非英語系學生想閱讀以其本國語言翻譯的課程資料的話，請在上班時間到我辦公室，因為有許多必讀書籍已有翻譯或原本就以其他語言發表。

平均每周必讀一百七十五頁。這些材料是讓學生熟悉拉丁美洲政治的模型，以及某些聞名或很好的案例探討。當然這些資料仍有疏漏，因此每週還會有推薦延伸閱讀，依課程進度列出相關讀物。要留意的是，這些推薦讀物是提供給兩種學生：一是該周撰寫文獻回顧報告的學生，此點將於下面討論；二是瘋狂的自我要求過高者覺得跑閱讀馬拉松是件很"有意思"事情的學生。如果你不是這兩種類型，就別為了延伸閱讀感到焦慮。

大部分上課周會提供文藝相關的小說、論文或電影，這些補充材料與必讀讀物主題相關。這些額外的材料並不會在課堂上特別討論，所以學生毋須擔心它們是否與你的報告相關。它們會放在課程綱要裡，是因為這些材料都是經典，凡是計畫關注拉丁美洲議題的學生會發現這是值得投資的。其他人可以在學期中租借一或兩部影片。無論如何，提供這些不同角度的材料，目的是為了讓學生燃起學習的情緒，而非給學生更多壓力。

課程讀物包含大部分的必讀書籍和章節。必讀讀物是從以下書單選出，並不包含課程讀物。希望專研在這個領域的學生最後會想收藏這些書籍，所以你應該盡可能咬緊牙關買下這些書。其他學生不準備鑽研拉丁美洲議題者可以只買前兩本書但閱讀其他部分。總之，這些材料依照課程優先順序列出，學生自行決定購買喜好。

• Naim, Moises. 《紙老虎與牛頭人身怪獸：委內瑞拉經濟改革政治學》( Paper Tigers and Minotaurs: The Politics of Venezuela's Economic Reforms)（華盛頓特區, 卡內基基金會, 1993）
• Stepan, Alfred. 《再思軍隊政治：巴西和南錐地區》(Rethinking Military Politics: Brazil and the Southern Cone)（普林斯頓, 新澤西州, 普林斯頓大學出版社, 1988）
• Diamond, Larry, Juan Linz, 與 Seymour Martin Lipset, 編 《開發中國家的民主：拉丁美洲》(Democracy in Developing Countries: Latin America)（Boulder, CO科羅拉多州: Lynne Rienner Publishers出版社, 1989）
• Dominguez, Jorge I., 與 Abraham F. Lowenthal, 編 《建構民主治理：新南美民主》(Constructing Democratic Governance: The New South American Democracies)（巴爾地摩, 馬里蘭州: 約翰霍普金斯大學出版社, 1996）
• Haggard, Stephan, 與 Robert R. Kaufman, 編 《經濟調整的政治學：國際限制、分配衝突與國家》(Politics of Economic Adjustment: International Constraints, Distributive Conflicts, and the State)（普林斯頓, 新澤西州, 普林斯頓大學出版社, 1992）
• Rueschemeyer, Dietrich, Evelyne Huber Stephens, 與 John D. Stephens. 《資本主義發展與民主》(Capitalist Development and Democracy)（芝加哥, 伊利諾州: 芝加哥大學出版社, 1992）
• Linz, Juan, 與 Alfred Stepan. 《民主轉型與集權的問題：南歐、南美和後共產主義歐洲》(Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe)（巴爾地摩, 馬里蘭州: 約翰霍普金斯大學出版社, 1996）

最後，你會看到本課程內容超出實際上課週數，上課週將會根據學生興趣交替分配在不同學期。

每次上課先進行口頭報告與評論讀物。學生選擇一週(或者，假如選課人數在10人以下則一人選二週)做報告。記住報告的目的是要喚起其他學生對閱讀內容的印象，提出對資料的主要內容不同論點，以引法課堂上的討論。盡量避免僅做機械性摘要式的報告。

你可以選擇以下其中一項：(一)五篇短報告；(二)三篇短論文加上一篇文獻報告；(三)一篇長的研究論文。

研讀、備課、口頭報告和寫作，算起來學生每周大約要花十二小時在此課程。

評分標準有一半來自於課堂參與，包含口頭報告。後者算為三次的上課表現，約佔總評分百分之十。老師可能會在課堂後給學生書面的評分紀錄，因此規律的出席及參與相當重要。不過每個學生一學期可以有一次無故缺席或沒有準備的機會（也就是說，成績不會被列入）。

另外一半的評分標準是根據學生的書面作業，短論文各佔百分之十，如果你選擇文獻報告，則會計為二篇報告的成績。如果你很有企圖心，繳交超過規定篇幅的論文報告，以得分最高的作業計分。

Syllabus (PDF)

This course is designed for graduate students in political science. Although doctoral students specializing in Latin America will presumably do outside reading, the class itself should be sufficient to prepare students for field exams. In case of unusually high enrollment, preference will be given to doctoral students over other students, and to students at MIT over those at other universities.

The course assumes some familiarity with the history and geography of Latin America, as well as with comparative political science. For the uninitiated, useful sources on the region include The Cambridge History of Latin America, edited by Leslie Bethell, 11 vols. (Cambridge University Press, 1984-1995), Thomas Skidmore and Peter Smith's Modern Latin America (Oxford University Press, 2001), Gary Wynia's The Politics of Latin American Development (Cambridge University Press, 1990), or John Sheahan's Patterns of Development in Latin America (Princeton University Press, 1987). There are also a number of widely available readers for those who feel the irrepressible urge to brush up on comparative politics.

Knowledge of Spanish or Portugese is not required for this course. All course readings are in English, class discussions will be conducted in English, and papers should be written in English. However, non-native speakers who wish to read some of the course materials in their native language should see me during office hours, as many of the core readings are available in translation or were originally written in other languages.

Weekly required readings average 175 pages. These readings are designed to acquaint you with the core paradigms in Latin American politics, as well as some of the most well known or well done empirical studies. They obviously leave out a lot. For this reason, there is an extensive list of recommended readings each week, listed in order of relevance for the course. Keep in mind, though, that these recommended readings are intended for two categories of people: (1) those who plan to write a review essay that week, an option discussed below, and (2) the type of crazy overachievers who think it is "fun" to run marathons. If you don't fit into one of these categories, don't fret about the recommended readings.

Most weeks are accompanied by a "literary overlay" of novels, essays, or films that treat themes raised by the required readings. These additional materials will not be discussed in class explicitly and you should not worry about them in your papers. They are on the syllabus because they are classics, and those of you who plan to concentrate on the region will find them worth the investment. Others may just want to rent a movie or two in the course of the semester. Regardless, please remember that the purpose of these materials is to lighten your mood by offering you a different perspective on the course themes, not to oppress you further.

Your course reader will have most of the required articles and book chapters. Required readings also include selections from books (listed below) which are not in the course reader. Those of you who plan to focus on the region will eventually want these books for you own library, so you should probably just grit your teeth and buy them. Those who are not planning to focus on Latin America may prefer to but the first two and read the rest on reserve. In any case, they are listed in descending order of priority for the class, so you can decide for yourselves which you want to purchase.

• Naim, Moises. Paper Tigers and Minotaurs: The Politics of Venezuela's Economic Reforms. Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment, 1993.
• Stepan, Alfred. Rethinking Military Politics: Brazil and the Southern Cone. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988.
• Diamond, Larry, Juan Linz, and Seymour Martin Lipset, eds. Democracy in Developing Countries: Latin America. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1989.
• Dominguez, Jorge I., and Abraham F. Lowenthal, eds. Constructing Democratic Governance: The New South American Democracies Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996.
• Haggard, Stephan, and Robert R. Kaufman, eds. The Politics of Economic Adjustment: International Constraints, Distributive Conflicts, and the State. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992.
• Rueschemeyer, Dietrich, Evelyne Huber Stephens, and John D. Stephens. Capitalist Development and Democracy. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1992.
• Linz, Juan, and Alfred Stepan. Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996.

Finally, as you will see, this syllabus contains several more weeks of reading than we actually have. Weeks will be rotated in different semesters, depending on student interest.

Each class will begin with a presentation discussing and critiquing the readings. You should choose a week (or, in the case of enrollment under ten people, two weeks) for your presentation. Bear in mind that the goal of your presentation is to refresh people's memories about the readings, to highlight the key areas of disagreement in the readings, and to stimulate class discussion; you should not feel compelled to mechanically summarize every article.

You have the option of writing one of the following: (1) five short papers OR (2) three short papers plus one review essay OR (3) one long research paper.

Counting reading, preparation for class, presentations, and writing, students should expect to spend approximately 12 hours per week on the course.

Half of your grade (50%) will be based on class participation, including your presentation(s). For grading purposes, each presentation will count as three class sessions--that is, about 10% of your overall grade. My somewhat odd habit is to record letter grades for each student after each class, so regular class participation is taken seriously. However, each student is entitled to one unexcused absense or "unprepared" over the course of the semester (i.e., your grade for that will not be counted).

The other half of your grade will be based on your written work. Short papers will all count equally (10% each), and the review essay--if you select this option--will count as two papers. If you are feeling wildly ambitious and want to write more than the requisite number of papers, the highest of your grades will be counted.