SOC 335 Democratizing Latin America

This course will focus on the changing dynamics of state power in Latin America from the 1960s through the present. We will compare Latin America's hard-dictatorships (dictaduras) to various versions of soft(er)-authoritarianisms (dictablandas) before such states transitioned to electoral democracy. Beyond looking at the changing dynamics between states and their civil societies over time we will explore legacies of civil wars revolution military coups and dirty wars. We will not only look at how ordinary people fought back by struggling for political human and cultural rights but how their movements contributed to the recent democratic transitions characterized as "third-wave" democratization".