HIST 347
Democracy and Dictatorship in Latin America
Last Offered Fall 2010
Division II
This course is not offered in the current catalog

The inability–or failure–of Latin American countries to establish stable and democratic governments has frustrated observers across the region and beyond for almost 200 years. This course will examine the historical creation of both democratic and anti-democratic regimes in different national cases, seeking to identify the conditions that have fostered the apparent persistence of dictatorial tendencies in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Peru, and the countries of Central America. In this regard we will look at the social and economic forces as well as the political actors and ideologies that have contributed to distinct, if often parallel, outcomes. At the same time, we will also question the criteria we use to label regimes “democratic” or “dictatorial”–and the implications of our choice of criteria.