Course Language:
İngilizce
Course Objectives:
This course is designed to provide students with an essential understanding of Latin American politics by introducing the historical context and core contemporary themes of Latin American Politics.
Course Content:
The course includes a general historical introduction of Latin America, the indigenous legacy, and the colonial era. Political keystones of the political system in Latin America such as the nation-building process, problems of democratization, and military interventions are covered as well as current societal issues such as demographic challenges, migration, religion, military tradition and drug trafficking. Major states in Latin America will be focused on as case studies.
Course Methodology:
1: Lecture, 2: Discussion based lecture, 3:Case study, 4: Small group work
Course Evaluation Methods:
A: Exam, B : Homework, D: Discussion
Vertical Tabs
Course Learning Outcomes
| Learning Outcomes | Program Learning Outcomes | Teaching Methods | Assessment Methods |
| Students will identify the impact of colonial history and its continuities in the current Latin American society and politics. | 3, 11 | 1, 2, 4 | A |
| Students will distinguish the interconnected nature of Latin America's wide-ranging political and economic challenges and successes. | 3, 11 | 1, 2, 4 | A |
| Students will relate major societal facts and patterns such as imbalanced distribution of income, economic crises to the social structure and history of the Latin societies. | 3,10, 11 | 1, 2, 3 | A, D |
| Students will illustrate the domestic and international grounds of the patterns of military interventions. | 3, 11 | 1, 2, 3 | A |
| Students will evaluate key issues of the major case studies. | 3, 11 | 1, 2, 3 | A, D |
| Students will construct a research question on a regional country as a case study. | 3, 8, 9,10 | 1, 2, 3 | A, B |
Course Flow
| COURSE CONTENT | ||
| Week | Topics | Study Materials |
| 1 | Meeting and introduction of the course. | |
| 2 | Understanding Historical and Cultural Foundations of Latin America 1: Aztecs, Incas, and Mayas | Keen, Ch. 1 |
| 3 | Understanding Historical and Cultural Foundations of Latin America 2: Tracing Bolivar and San Martin | Keen, Ch. 3 |
| 4 | The Reasons of Geographical and Cultural Diversity in Latin America | Keen, Ch. 5 |
| 5 | Historical Causes, Culturalist Approaches and Dependency Theory and Development in Latin American History | Chasteen |
| 6 | Social Effects of Neoliberal Reform and Populism,: Poverty, Inequality, and Immigration | Teichman, Ch. 3 |
| 7 | Mid-term Exam | |
| 8 | The Collapse of Populist Democracy during the 1960's and 1970's |
Stepan in
Linz & Stepan |
| 9 | The Organization of Authoritarianism | Needler |
| 10 | Transitions to Democracy and the Quality of Democracy | Camp |
| 11 | Case Studies: Argentina; Chile | Keen, Ch. 13, 14 |
| 12 | Case Studies: Brazil | Keen, Ch. 15 |
| 13 | Case Studies: Mexico; Caribbean | Keen, Ch. 12 |
| 14 | Case Studies: Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia | Keen, Ch. 19 |
| 15 | Case Studies: Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia | |
| 16 | Final Exam | |
Recommended Sources
| RECOMMENDED SOURCES | |
| Textbook | Benjamin Keen, (1996) A history of Latin America (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co). |
| Additional Resources |
J.C. Chasteen, (2001) Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America, New York: Norton&Company Inc.
Judith A. Teichman, (2001) The Politics of Freeing Markets in Latin America: Chile, Argentina, and Mexico. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. Alfred Stepan, (1978) “Political Leadership and Regime Breakdown: Brazil,” in Juan J. Linz and Alfred Stepan, eds. The Breakdown of Democratic Regimes: Latin America, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Needler, M. C. (1966) ‘‘Political Development and Military Intervention in Latin America’’ The American Political Science Review, 60 (3): 616-626. Camp, R. A. (ed.) (1996) Democracy in Latin America: Patterns and Cycles (Wilmington: Jaguar Books). |
Material Sharing
| MATERIAL SHARING | |
| Documents | |
| Assignments | An assignment as a case study or time period is due for the last class. |
| Exams | Midterm and final essays taken in the class. |
Assessment
| ASSESSMENT | ||
| IN-TERM STUDIES | NUMBER | PERCENTAGE |
| Mid-term | 1 | 50 |
| Assignment | 1 | 50 |
| Total | 100 | |
| CONTRIBUTION OF FINAL EXAMINATION TO OVERALL GRADE | 50 | |
| CONTRIBUTION OF IN-TERM STUDIES TO OVERALL GRADE | 50 | |
| Total | 100 | |
Course’s Contribution to Program
| COURSE'S CONTRIBUTION TO PROGRAM | ||||||||
| No | Program Learning Outcomes | Contribution | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||
| 1 | Students will demonstrate their comprehensive knowledge of the basic concepts and theories of Political Science and International Relations as well as other related disciplines such as Law, Economics and Sociology. | X | ||||||
| 2 | Students will interpret the structure, institutions and operation of national, international and supranational entities via utilization of the concepts and theories of Political Science and International relations and produce project reports that include possible solutions to problems of such institutions when necessary. | X | ||||||
| 3 | Students will demonstrate that they have developed a comparative, analytical and interdisciplinary approach vis-à-vis human societies and political systems. | X | ||||||
| 4 | Students will have improved their skills and awareness of personal responsibility and team membership through conducting group or independent research projects, doing internships and producing their graduation dissertations. | X | ||||||
| 5 | Students will demonsrate proficiency in quantitative and qualitative data collections methods. | X | ||||||
| 6 | Students will prove their understanding of the rapidly-evolving dynamics of national and global environments requires constant self-assessment, life-long learning, and the ability to formulate innovative solutions to maintain their personal and professional development. | X | ||||||
| 7 | Students should be able to critically evaluate the body of knowledge in political science, assess self-competency and direct self-learning efforts accordingly. | X | ||||||
| 8 | Students will implement written and oral communication skills in English and Turkish in both academic and professional settings. | X | ||||||
| 9 | Students should be able to effectively demonstrate their knowledge of written, oral and reading skills in English both in international institutional settings and follow and interpret the global dynamics of the International Relations discipline. | X | ||||||
| 10 | Students will demonstrate their social skills and experience required by public or private institutions or in the academia. | X | ||||||
| 11 | Students will show empathy and respect towards societies other than one’s own. | X | ||||||
| 12 | Students should be able to effectively utilize computer and information technologies commonly-used in the social sciences. | X | ||||||
| 13 | Students will interpret domestic and international developments and express opinions, having acquired advanced knowledge and proficiency in the via communication with international scholars and students. | X | ||||||
| 14 | Students will respect personal, social and academic ethical norms. | X | ||||||
| 15 | Students should understand the personal, social, and ecological dimensions of social responsibility, and show duties of active and global citizenship. | X | ||||||
| 16 | Students should know that universality of social-political and legal rights and social justice are the principle components of contemporary society, and that scientific thinking is an essential prerequisite for maintaining social advancement and global competitiveness. | X | ||||||
ECTS
| ECTS ALLOCATED BASED ON STUDENT WORKLOAD BY THE COURSE DESCRIPTION | |||
| Activities | Quantity |
Duration (Hour) |
Total Workload (Hour) |
| Course Duration (Including the exam week: 16x Total course hours) | 16 | 3 | 48 |
| Hours for off-the-classroom study (Pre-study, practice) | 16 | 3 | 48 |
| Mid-terms | 1 | 10 | 10 |
| Homework | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Final examination | 1 | 15 | 15 |
| Total Work Load | 125 | ||
| Total Work Load / 25 (h) | 5 | ||
| ECTS Credit of the Course | 5 | ||
None