Latin American Politics Final

Political parties have three areas in which they operate. Finally, the party's professional staff, which works in the headquarters, is the party

organization

Political parties have three areas in which they operate. The first, which refers to members of the party who hold office in government is usually called the party in

public office

The national bird of Guatemala is the

quetzal

Political parties, social movements, and interest groups are the three main types of political organization. What is the main difference between parties and the other two types of organization?

. They seek "political power," or government office

What are the three components of party system institutionalization? Describe each of them briefly, in your own words.

1) An institutionalized party system will have consistent or stable parties that are real contenders for the election. Of course, minor parties may come and go, but the real contenders will be pretty reliable. A major party appearing out of nowhere is a sign of lowered institutionalization. 2)Parties' vote shares should also be pretty stable. Volatile results indicate a more fluid voter base - this makes it more difficult to have reasonable expectations of future actions. If parties see wild swings in their vote totals, it is likely that there are low levels of institutionalization. 3)Major parties' will have consistent links to their voter base. If there is a large shift in a party's behavior towards its voter base, this may be an indicator of low institutionalization as it also reduces the predictability of the party for the voters.

Who: Franciso Javier Eugenio de Santa Cruz y Espejo (Ecuador)

Born of a Quechua father and a mulatto mother, a prominent Ecuadorian intellectual who helped found the first public and national libraries in Ecuador. Also served as editor of Ecuador's first newspaper.

Example of a multi-party system

Brazil

Slaves constituted the largest portion of the population in which colonies?

Brazil and the Caribbean colonies such as Cuba

Name two of the crops that were central to Brazil's colonial economy.

Brazilwood and Sugar

Why does non-programmatic distribution tend to disappear in favor of programmatic distribution as countries become more economically developed and urbanized? Your explanation will need to explain what "brokers" are.

Brokers are hired by political machines to help with information demands of the parties. They provide insight into what ways will be most effective in gaining votes (e.g. whose children are sick, who voted in the last election etc.). These brokers are often highly inefficient as they are difficult to monitor and often corrupt. Economic growth and modernization lead the party leaders to cut away inefficiencies in their machines, such as brokers. This is made possible as the cost for leaders to communicate directly with the voters declines. This happens even as electorates grow in size through industrialization and economic development.

How does Prof. Hawkins measure populism in this article?

By coding the speeches of political chief executives

Who: Highly popular first wife of Juan Perón (Argentina)

Eva Duarte Peron

Prior to its independence, what was Bolivia's most important export? How does this relate to the country's colonial path?

Silver was the most important export. Bolivia's colonial path was that of indigenous labor, with the local indigenous populations working the mines for the Spanish.

How were slaves treated differently in Costa Rica than in other places where slavery was incorporated?

Slavery was not as brutal in Costa Rica, as the slaves were viewed as valuable commodities in and of themselves. As a result, the settles took care of the slaves so that they could continue to profit off their labor.

Which are Peru's three traditionally institutionalized, but currently insignificant, parties?

The AP (Popular Action), the PPC (Christian Political Party), and the IU (United Left).

What is the national bird of Ecuador OR which mountain is depicted on the coat of arms?

The Andean Condor

What major mountain range runs lengthwise through the middle of Peru?

The Andes

What is the Peruvian national animal? (It is also featured on the country's flag and, according to Prof. Hawkins' wife, is an absolutely beautiful animal, not that you would know that.)

The vicuna

What is Yashar's theory or explanation for why the indigenous populations of LA countries began to organize and protest for civil rights more frequently toward the end of the 20th century when they had previously avoided confrontation? Describe all three components in detail. This will take at least a good paragraph.

There are three aspects that impacted the indigenous people's likelihood of protesting, all of which seem inter-related. The first is the changing citizenship regimes. Previously, the corporatist societies had unintentionally sheltered indigenous autonomy, giving them space to express themselves. The neo-liberalism that society began to shift to threaten this autonomy by putting in a more atomized state-society relationship. However, as Latin American governments became more institutionalized, they provided the indigenous groups with institutionalized access to the government, along with more formal identities and authority in their own spaces. Many social benefits began to be more available to the indigenous population at this time. This translated to the indigenous people being peasants in Latin America, a step up from their previous position as glorified tools for labor. As more peasant communities were registered, the State believed to be integrating them, thinking that they were eliminating their culture. This was not the case, instead the communities often served as opportunities to connect with other indigenous communities (the second of Yashar's explanation). Another side product of this was the fact that it allowed local communities to in turn institutionalize their traditional practices. The second of Yashar's explanation of the puzzle, as previously mentioned, relies on the opportunities to connect that came about as communities grew larger. Often times the indigenous populations would grow separately, with different languages and cultural practices, but trans community networks allowed them to overcome these barriers and organize to protest for more rights. Yashar defines networks as those repeated interactions and exchanges of information, and the relationships that emerge as a result between individuals and institutions, in either the formal or informal arenas. She stresses that only where these networks existed did the organizational capacity emerge to spearhead effective indigenous movements. Networks are separate from movements in the fact that a movement harnesses the organization of the pre-existing network. A movement may have different goals or identities to that of the network from which it built. The third and final necessity for explaining the Yashar's puzzle is the existence of political associational space. This takes for given the existence of freedom of association and expression - which are not the same as simply being in a democracy. The state must respect these rights. Political associational spaces are different from networks. The spaces are opportunities to organize, whereas networks are the existing capacity to do so. Where political liberalization has resulted in the freedom to organize, there has also been greater opportunity for the indigenous movement to mobilize. While not always the case, often political associational spaces will occupy the trans community networks, especially when there are particularly dense networks available. As society shifted challenged local autonomy, trans community networks, and political associational spaces.

Patronage and vote-buying are both types of clientelism. How do they differ?

They differ in the target of the clientelism. Patronage targets party members and often rewards them with employment after the candidate takes office. That being said other benefits may still be apportioned to party members in return for their support. Vote-buying, on the other hand, is directed at the voters. Vote-buying is more like a bribe or a payment in return for an individual's vote.

What type of qualitative data do Trejo and Lay use to test their theory? Looking closely at just one of the cases, what do they find?

They use data from the Criminal Violence in Mexico data set, looking at the 4,725 murders perpetrated between 1990 and 2006. This is the dependent variable, and they look at this data at the municipal level, by year. The party alternation at the state level is their independent variable. They also use in-depth interview data. I looked at Baja California. They found that once the cartels had their private militias set up, they would use them to corrupt or kill anyone, including government officials. Cartels would also attack other cartels when they were most vulnerable, at the changing of government from one party to the next.

Legislators are motivated by many factors to help their constituents at local as well as national levels. What do we call legislative activity that involves helping individuals apply for social benefits, helping businesses cut through red tape, and helping groups access government resources?

This is known as "casework."

In Latin American legislatures, what is an interpelación?

This is when the legislature calls ministers or other high-ranking officials to answer questions on matters under their influence or on topics that they are well acquainted with.

T/F The Bolivian National Revolution refers to a period in the mid-twentieth century when the government worked to empower the indigenous peasant class.

True

T/F The first Latin American country to grant women the right to vote was Ecuador, in 1929.

True

T/F Unlike in the United States, many Latin American constitutions allow the presidential to issue a partial veto, and even an amendatory veto.

True

Who: José María Castro Madriz (Costa Rica)

First President of Costa Rica. Known for officially declaring Costa Rica an independent republic. Was forcibly removed from office on two occasions in military coups.

The second half of the Smith et al. chapter covers the movement for independence. Using complete sentences, identify four things you learned about this period from the reading. Make sure each thing is unique enough and that you explain it enough that we can see the differences among them.

First, I was unaware of the conflicts in Europe that weakened Spain's grasp on its colonies in America. Spanish issues with England and France made it possible for rebellions to start to crop up and find success. Second, I find it incredible that the leaders would be convinced to open up Argentinian trade to other countries. Despite losing money through the contraband exported elsewhere, Spain still had major control over many products. But by giving them that small victory, Spain may have propelled the Argentinians towards even bigger goals. Third, I was never aware of how far Simon Bolivar travelled in his attempts to rid the colonies of the colonists. Fleeing to Jamaica, but never giving up on his goal to give Venezuela their own government. Fourth, this reading was my first time hearing of San Martin. I am intrigued at his willingness to go to there areas of the continent with his army to defeat the Spanish. Travelling from Argentina to Chile for a surprise attack on the Spaniards must have been an enormous risk, but one that paid off in the end.

What conditional cash transfer program has Brazil implemented to reduce income inequality, to mainly positive results?

The Bolsa Familia program. This program gave families cash vouchers if they sent their children to school, completed immunizations, and attended postnatal care services.

In contrast, indigenous (and subsequently mestizo) population centers were located in which colonies?

Mexico and Peru

Who: Nobel prize winner (literature)

Miguel Ángel Asturias

Who are the Montubio and why did they protest the 2001 Census?

The Montubio is a coastal population in Ecuador that has indigenous roots. They protested the 2001 census because it counted them as Mestizos, which they felt was inaccurate.

Who: Julio Jaramillo (Ecuador)

Prolific songwriter

What is the most common type of electoral rule for members of congress in Latin America?

Proportional representation

T/F Unlike neighboring countries such as Mexico and Guatemala, Costa Rica's liberals tended to dominate national politics from independence onward ("liberal" here refers to their economic views more than their belief in democracy).

True

While feminine interests in Latin America are geared towards empowering women to fill traditional roles, feminist interests seek to challenge those roles.

True

Political parties have three areas in which they operate. The second, which refers to party members and activists at large, is usually called the party in the

electorate

A(n) ________ party is what we call a type of party that may be very popular in elections but nonetheless has a small membership base and very little local-level organization. In contrast, a(n) __________

elite, mass

Smith calls an electoral democracy without full respect for civil liberties a(n)

illiberal democracy

Cuba's population is:

around 11 million

Which Latin American country was the first to implement a gender quota for legislative elections?

Argentina

Of Argentina, Brazil, and Peru, identify which colonies pursued independence in which order; the earliest one should be first.

Argentina, Peru, then Brazil

Which type of regime was largely responsible for extending the vote to women in Latin America: democratic or autocratic?

Autocratic

Which of the following are important Mexican exports today?

Avocados, Petroleum, Steel, Machinery and transport equipment

Who: Tupac Katari (Peru)

Aymaran rebel who inspired colonial Bolivians to fight for their independence.

According to modernization theory, what are the characteristics of a modern society? How does modernization contribute to economic development and democratization?

BE SPECIFIC on how modernization leads to democracy! Modern society is characterized by a focus on achievements, specific orientations and patterns of action, a nuclear family structure that serves limited functions and a highly differentiated occupational system. Also, a predominance of secondary economic activity and production exchange with highly differentiated political structures that have rational legal sources of authority. These factors open the way for economic development having overcome traditional barriers. Focusing on innovations and achievement leads to adopting new ideas, allowing new groups and innovators to assume roles that clash with the old ways.

Who: Benito Juárez (Mexico)

Beloved president, native of Oaxaca, and leader of the liberal reformers in the mid-1800s

Bolivia has taken significant measures to recognize indigenous cultures. What are two pieces of evidence that the government has seriously invested in doing this?

Bolivia has nearly 40 official languages, most of them indigenous. To better serve the indigenous populations, it is Bolivian law that the government must always operate with two languages available: Spanish, and whatever language is most suited for the region. The national anthem has been translated into 6 different indigenous languages. All of these efforts show that the government truly wants the indigenous people to be welcome and recognized.

Which three of the following countries allow for a presidential recall referendum?

Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela

Who: Andrés de Santa Cruz (Peru)

Bolivian military leader who later became President of Bolivia. Very authoritarian.

Acemoglu states that good institutions have three key characteristics. What are these characteristics?

1) Enforcement of property rights for a broad cross-section of society 2) Constraints on the actions of elites (e.g. politicians or other powerful groups) 3) Equal opportunity for broad segments of society.

Juan Linz was critical of presidential systems. What three reasons did he give for their presumed instability? Answer in your own words, in just a few sentences.

1) Fixed terms of office make it difficult to replace a president that has lost the support of the nation or of their party. As a result, presidents may attempt unconstitutional actions when under pressure of major crises. 2) Electing a president gives the president a sense of power, having been chosen as the leader of a country. This does not lead well into power-sharing and coalition building. With a lack of coalition building, executive-legislative relationships may be tense, even leading to conflict. 3) When both the president and the congress are elected by the people, they both have a sense of representing their constituents - who are also their source of power. Critics such as Linz claim that this will always lead to conflict.

Levitsky goes through several reasons for the lack of party system institutionalization in Peru. Summary at least three of these reasons, then say which of these, if any, you think explains the lack of party system institutionalization in other Latin American countries. Make sure to explain your reasoning and to give rough evidence for your argument.

1) Party building is difficult. Durable parties depend on strong political identities that voters can identify, coupled with the building of robust organizations to run the parties. This takes both time and money, which politicians are not willing to provide when they can easily garner attention and votes through mass media. 2) Party identification, such as mentioned above, is most easily cultivated in time of conflict and polarization. Levitsky gives the international examples of Mexico and Nicaragua, whose largest parties were born from their revolutions. "Higher causes" help the masses seek unity and identification, both with political leaders and with each other. That being said, Peru has lacked any national level conflicts or polarizing events in the post-Fujimori era. 3) Party collapse is self-reinforcing. Once the system collapsed, politicians were able to adapt and find new ways to succeed - reducing their incentive to return to the old party system institutionalization. Over time, they developed strategies, technologies, and norms that allow them to maintain that power. These diminish the value of parties, especially after Fujimori's success which not only showed politicians that winning without a stable party was possible, but that it was probable. Instead, parties have been substitute with "coalitions of independents," allowing free agents to easily switch their political alliances to support whoever they believe will allow them to win (known as transifuguismo). I think the third and final reinforcing mechanism that I described is the most powerful. If the people in power were able to succeed in an environment without political parties, why would they facilitate institutionalization and risk getting ousted? Fujimori gave them the blueprint on how to do this on four separate occasions, creating coalitions of independents along the way as necessary. These winners are then in turn less likely to invest time and money into party-building.

What do these regional and subregional patterns suggest about the causes of democracy?

1) That democracy "diffuses," with groups in one country learning lessons from what happens in neighboring countries. 2) That there are common external pressures to democratize or not. 3) That prior experience matters and accumulates.

Prof. Smith defines democracy in terms of three principles. What are they?

1) The Principle of Participation 2) The Principle of Competition 3) The Principle of Accountability

Brazil: Independence & Imperial Rule

1822-1889

Costa Rica gained independence on several occasions. When did it formally become a sovereign state?

1838

Slavery was abolished in Brazil in:

1888

Brazil: First Republic

1889-1930

When did Cuba achieve independence from Spain?

1898

Brazil: Rule of Getúlio Vargas

1930-1945

Brazil: Democratic Interlude

1945-1964

When did women gain full voting rights in El Salvador?

1950

Brazil: Military Dictatorship

1964-1985

Prof. Smith describes three "cycles" of democracy in Latin America. Approximately when did the third cycle, or wave begin?

1978

Trejo and Ley study the outbreak of violence among organized criminal groups in Mexico. In roughly what years did this take place?

1995-2006

Brazil: Presidencies of Lula & Dilma

2002-2016

Looking globally, how many "waves" of democracy do scholars generally identify?

3

An extremely tropical country, Costa Rica hosts what percentage of the world's biodiversity?

5%

What is a bicameral legislature, and how common is this in Latin America?

A bicameral legislature is a congress that has two chambers. These chambers may differ in size and exact responsibilities across countries, but by adding a second chamber future bills must be passed in both before they can be given to the president. There are nine countries with a bicameral congress in Latin America.

How do competitive authoritarian regimes differ from democracies and fully authoritarian regimes?

A competitive authoritarian regime is not democratic, but it still holds regular, competitive elections that opposition parties could potentially win. In this way democracys and competitive authoritarian regimes are similar, they both involve uncertainty. They differ, however, because the incumbent will abuse in at least one of the following attributes of democracy: free elections, broad protection of civil liberties, and a reasonable playing field. By abusing these aspects, authoritarian incumbents tip the scales in their favor to reduce the uncertainty, but by maintaining the elections in general they salvage domestic and international legitimacy.

Example of Censorship

A local company murders one of your reporters who is about to publish a story exposing their connections to a local drug cartel

What is party system collapse? Explain briefly in your own words. Also, which four Latin American countries have experienced party system collapse in recent years?

A party system collapse signals the lowering of institutionalization to the point that previously stable patterns or expectations are eroded. This will look like new major parties emerging, changes in old parties' ideologies, as well as old parties drastically losing votes. As a result, the party system does not have as large of an effect on the political actors. Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador have all recently experienced party collapse in recent years.

What key political actors shifted their views in favor of democracy during the 1980s? Briefly list three of these actors and what changed their minds.

ARENA: US insistence on elections caused ARENA to quickly pivot to focus on winning popular support. Early success in various elections led ARENA to be more open to democracy. Big Business: Agrarin reform and the civil war weakened the traditional power of Big Business. The war caused many landowners to flee, leaving behind their land. After the war and reforms, the financial sector began to grow and the economic elite were forced to shift away from authoritarianism and towards democracy. The FMLN: Created in 1980 as a guerilla socialist group, these revolutionaries originally rejected social democracy. However, around 1988 they began a rapid transition as their leader expressed willingness to compete in elections as they were a viable route to power.

Who: Harry Shum Jr. (Costa Rica)

Actor from Limon, Costa Rica. His parents originally immigrated to Costa Rica from China where he was born. He has been in films and TV shows like Crazy Rich Asians and Glee.

Who: First democratically elected Guatemalan president (in 1945)

Juan José Arévalo Bermejo

In your own words, describe one of the arguments in favor of presidential term limits, and one of the arguments against. Then, state your own view and justify it.

Against term limits: Being able to run for reelection increases accountability of the president during their first term. The idea is that if the president wants to be reelected, then they must do a good job during their first term. Otherwise the public will not want to give them a second chance, instead opting for the opponent. For term limits: Incumbent presidential candidates win their reelection races with wide margins - especially in counties with weaker democratic institutions. This may be becuase of the greater amount of power that the incumbent has to influence interest groups, supporters and the increased availability of public resources. Having access to all of these factors does not mean that the incumbent is a better candidate, but historically it does tip the scales in their favor on voting day. I am particularly interested in the way Mexico implements term limits. By having one six year term a president can make considerable change in their country. By not having the possibility of reelection, that president should (in theory) be focused on improving the country for all six years. This is contrasted to countries like the United States, where we commonly see first term presidents take the last two years of their term to campaign for their reelection.

What makes Fujimorismo a "mixed case"?

Alberto Fujimori closed down the original personalistic vehicle known as Change 90 after winning the presidency in 1990. However, the group was kept alive and has seen a resurgence in popularity through the leadership of his daughter, Keiko Fujimori. In the 2000's the party has narrowly lost the presidency a couple of times and has successfully won the majority in congress. Renamed as "Popular Force," the party is now known for being well organized and has offices in the majority of provinces. Despite its rocky start, PF seems to be prepared to stick around in the Peruvian electoral cycle.

Levitsky highlights a surprising consequence of weak parties, one that Mainwaring ignores (and that we didn't say much about in class): amateur politicians. What does he mean by this, and why does he argue it is a problem for democracy?

Amateur politicians are those who enter politics as a second career. These do not have access to the same resources (such as national parties), so they must first make a name for themselves in other areas. Many amateur politicians were first successful businesspeople. These amateurs will often keep their first career, as the election process is not a sure thing, which makes it easy for them to return to their first career in the case of political failure. Amateur politicians found great success in the 2000s, with three of the four presidents never having held a public office before. As a result, they naturally have extremely limited experience working with democratic institutions, lacking many of the required skills for successful governance. This, in turn, leads to missteps and scandals that would have otherwise been avoided. Overall, their commitment to democratic norms is often suspect and their dedication to the preservation of democracy is questioned. They are also more susceptible to corruption.

What is "Do Latin voters in the United States vote as a bloc?" an example of?

American Politics

When was CONAIE established in Ecuador and what did this organization aim to do?

CONAIE is the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, and it was established in 1986. This organization aimed to fight injustice and promote land rights for indigenous groups. This included advocating for certain economic policies, and encouraging members to participate in the political process so that the indigenous populations are better represented in government.

What was Ecuador's most lucrative export during the colonial period?

Cacao

How does capitalist development lead to democracy, according to Huber et. al.? Provide a brief answer (two to three sentences) in your own words. Although they identify three factors, focus on the most important one here.

Capitalist development leads to democracy because it takes power from the rich landowners and passes it to the lower classes. These middle and lower classes then gain unprecedented power, especially as they learn to organize themselves - made possible through events such as urbanization.

Who: Leader of the CIA-trained forces in Guatemala; became president

Carlos Castillo Armas

The Argentine colonial economy was heavily based on:

Cattle ranching

Who: European discoverer of Cuba

Christopher Columbus

Define clientelism and give an example.

Clientelism is when the receipt of benefits is contingent on the individual's political support. This may come in the form of patronage, when political benefits are given to party members, or in the form of vote-buying, when the benefits are directed to voters. One example of this is from when I lived in Mexico growing up. Local ward members would tell us how political candidates would pass out $200 peso bills to people in exchange for their committing to vote for them. Other candidates would build parks in low income neighborhoods once enough people pledged their vote to them.

Who: Antonio José de Sucre (Peru)

Close friend of Simon Bolivar and President of Bolivia. Was assassinated on suspicion of supporting the secession of Ecuador from Gran Colombia.

What were the two major agricultural industries that developed in Costa Rica during the 1800s?

Coffee and Bananas

In Brazil, The First Republic was dominated by a group of rich landowners and politicians. What term describes the two economic sectors that sustained these oligarchs?

Coffee and Milk

Who: Jenny Serrano (Peru)

Comedian and television producer

What is "Why was Gabriel Boric elected president of Chile?" an example of?

Comparative Politics

Dependency Theory

Developed initially by Latin American scholars. Inspired by Marxism. Sees exploitation by a colonial power as the key factor shaping development

Who: Infamous soccer star whose "mano de Dios" won the 1986 World Cup (Argentina)

Diego Maradona

Competitive authoritarian regimes rely on three "legs" to stay in power: civil society, political elites, and security forces. Based on what you read, who/what do each of those three labels refer to?

Competitive regimes rely on three main aspects: civil society, political elites, and the security forces. Stronger regimes will strengthen these aspects to become more stable. When a would-be authoritarian has the support of the civil society by a majority as well as mobilizing most of the organized groups, it becomes incredibly difficult for opposition groups to gain traction. In this regard, competitive authoritarian regimes depend on public opinion more than other autocracies. Civil society refers to these voluntary organizations that come about among the people, often wielding great political power. The political elites are those who help keep the leader in power. These may be social movement leaders, military leaders, businessmen, or anyone else who has a strong influence on the politics of the country. The third group, the security forces, refer to the police and the military.

Who: Gabriel García Moreno (Ecuador)

Conservative newspaper publisher turned politician who eventually became president and dictator of Ecuador. Increased government revenue, built public works, and made the Catholic Church a part of the Ecuadorian state.

What two agricultural exports are the largest in the Argentine economy today?

Corn and Soybean (soybean meal).

Who is Rafael Correa and why is he currently residing in Belgium?

Correa was Ecuador's president from 2007-2017. During his term, Correa traded the strength of political institutions for economic growth. Correa was charged with corruption relating to campaign finance and sentenced to 8 years in prison. He is currently residing in Belgium under political asylum.

Name a Latin American country that has strict term limits (no consecutive terms allowed) for legislators.

Costa Rica

What route did Costa Rica take to remedy its economy after it went bankrupt in the 80s? What was the effect?

Costa Rica appealed to international institutions such as the IMF, hoping that they would bail them out. Costa Rica was bailed out, but on the condition that they follow austerity programs as defined in the "Washington Consensus." This included policies that were pro-free trade and anti-government spending. These policies were widely successful: today Costa Rica has a diversified economy, moving away from dependence on coffee and banana and starting to produce manufactured goods and medical technology.

Who: Former Peronist president, now vice-president, of Argentina

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

Example of a non-democratic one-party system

Cuba

Which Latin American country is the worst in the region in terms of freedom of expression, assembly, and religion?

Cuba

Modernization Theory

Developed by non-Latin American scholars, then applied to the region. Sees national culture as the fundamental causal mechanism

The proportionality of election results varies directly with the district magnitude. What is the district magnitude, and what is proportionality?

District magnitude is the number of seats assigned to a district at election time. Proportionality is how close the share of seats allocated to parties after an election is to the share of votes each party received during the election.

Who: Portuguese royal who remained in Brazil during the constitutional revolution and fought on behalf of independence

Dom Pedro I

As the data in the textbook shows, the level of disproportionality is probably highest in congressional elections in which country?

Dominican Republic

Describe in a little detail some of the key changes that took place in unemployment benefits, health care, and pensions during the Duhalde administration of Argentina. Focus on program names, the beneficiaries, and the nature of their benefits (what was being given, whether it was clientelistic or not).

Duhalde expanded many of the social programs to include the outsiders. Three main areas were highlighted. Income support: 74% coverage of school-age outsiders. This provided families with two or more children with more than 20% of the poverty line. Expansions to health care benefitted 100% of the outsiders and included free prescription drugs and primary care services. Pensions were also expanded to include the majority of outsiders (97% of them) to the extent that they received equal pensions as insiders. Parties, but especially the PJ focused on clientelistic linkages instead of producing more programmatic benefits for low-income voters.

How did Cuba's economic and political relations with the United States change after the American Revolution? How did Cuban elites view the United States? Answer in at least one good paragraph.

During the revolution which, Spain decided to finance, trade with Havana became a much more common reality for Americans. Cuba continually gave assistance to the American efforts during the revolution. After the Americans found success, however, Spain quickly became nervous that the great trade conditions between Cuba and the US would prove to be too profitable for the Americans and therefore fund efforts such as the American expansion. Spain thus decided to halt trade between two societies, later going even further by expelling Americans from the island. The next trade to be allowed in Havana from the US was that of human beings. Despite these restrictions, many of the Cuban elite thought that the US was still Cuba's best trading partner, most ideal in many factors.

The Yashar reading provides minute historical detail about two key moments in the organization of CONAIE: the early period when one of the constituent organizations was formed in the Andean highlands, and the years immediately following when this and another constituent organization combined to form CONAIE. Write two paragraphs, one for each of these periods, in which you summarize the key pieces of evidence for Yashar's argument about why/when indigenous social movements get off the ground. Remember that her argument has three components, so you will need to provide evidence for each of these, for both of the periods.

Early period when one of the constituent organizations was formed in the Andean highlands. Ecuador enacted several laws regarding the indigenous populations, often keeping them as second-class citizens. However, in the Andean Highlands, the state was less effective at implementing the laws, thus allowing the local communities a certain degree of autonomy over local affairs. In 1964 and 1973 more land reforms became reality and more indigenous communities began registering with the state to gain greater civil and economic rights. After not too long, what seemed to be isolated comunas began to express grievances and demands regarding political inclusion, social resources, and local autonomy. The populist military rule of Lara unintentionally provided the opportunity for indigenous groups to organize along ethnic lines, and quickly these isolated grievances scaled up through pre-existing networks into regional and even national issues. The varying indigenous populations were able to overcome their many differences through the pre-existing networks established by the church and unions that had previously penetrated their communities. Without these preexisting networks it is likely that the indigenous mobilization would have been delayed due to the lack of common identities and the lack of means of communication between the various indigenous groups in Ecuador. In particular, the Catholic church, influenced by Vatican II, pushed indigenous people to participate in local affairs, encouraging things like increased education and developed skills. At times the church even promoted local and provincial organizations. The Catholic church is attributed with a significant role in the creation of ECUARUNARI, the Andean indigenous organization. Thanks to the capacity to mobilize provided by the church and the opportunity provided by the Lara regime, ECUARUNI emerged in 1972 and would take center stage in the 1980's. The years immediately following when this and another constituent organization combined to form CONAIE. The indigenous populations in the Amazon in Ecuador were faced with land issues that led them to demand land security. They had previously enjoyed higher levels of local autonomy, but neoliberal citizenship regime threatened to jeopardize those freedoms. These demands began with land to farm, but by the 1980's also included demands for the protection of local spaces of autonomy. Thus, leaders in the CONFENAIE were convinced by other leaders in the same organization, the ECUARUNARI, and the CONAIE, that land was integral in the protection indigenous culture and politics, even for indigenous survival. The democratic transition in 1979 provided the indigenous people with greater opportunity to participate, as they were no longer restricted by literacy requirements. Civilian administrations at the time were also more favorable towards multicultural aspects of Ecuador, and developed literacy programs which later provided the capacity for the indigenous movement. Many of the future leaders worked in those literacy projects.

At the end of the chapter on Argentina, Garay goes over alternative explanations. What evidence does she present that these alternatives are incorrect?

Economic crises could be an alternative theory, but Garay explains how there had been crises before that did not cause expansion of social policy. While the crises of 2002 did results in social expansion, Garay argues that this was simply to control the public and stabilize the regime, not to permanently change the system by choice.

Which of the three paths of colonization did Ecuador follow? Name at least three pieces of evidence from the profile. (You do need to be correct.)

Ecuador followed the indigenous pathway of colonization. This is evidenced by that fact that the indigenous people worked and produced the goods in the Sierra mountains. Another piece of evidence would be the large mestizo population, making up 71.9% of the population. The third piece of evidence is the timing of their independence. Their initial surge for independence was quite early, in 1809, but that was in large part undone by the Spanish quite quickly. The independence movement that really stuck was that of 1820-22, when they fought for independence under a Venezuelan general. This was towards the end of the first wave of democracy, or the beginning of the second depending on how you measure the years.

Competitive oligarchy

Elections are fair, but access is restricted to the socioeconomic elite

Semidemocracy

Elections are free but not fair; or, elections are free and fair, but the winner doesn't have effective power

The way a party organizes (or whether there are even parties formed around certain issues) as well as the type of party system are primarily driven by just a few factors. Identify them.

Electoral rules, federalism, social homogeneity/diversity

How did slavery in Cuba differ from the slavery seen in North America and Great Britain? Answer in one good paragraph.

Even though they were slaves, the reading describes their lifestyle as very similar to being free (despite working in the mines), in large part due to the Siete Partidas system that was a part of the legal system. This is why the news that the King was going to sell them was so shocking in 1670 when Madrid seized the mines. This is in high contrast to the lifestyle of the slaves in North America and Great Britain, who had an extremely short list of liberties. Instead of being sold, the slaves bought their own freedom after their community of slaves was recognized as a legitimate political unit. After a period of time were the cobreros were once again all but enslaved, in 1800 the king ordered that all cobreros be free and that they receive parcels of land.

The Incan empire created a centrally planned economy based on collective labor. Briefly describe how the system worked.

Every citizen was expected to contribute to the central economy, and if they did not then they were subjectable to punishment (even up to death). The empire was divided into "Allyus," specific regions of land that were then divided up again and given to families to develop. Families would receive land based on their family size and their needs. Due to the centrally planned economy, no currency was used by the Incans.

Which of the following began as an insurgency but persisted through the democratic transition as a formal political party?

FMLN

Since 2000, levels of corruption in Mexico have decreased significantly.

False

T/F "Authoritarian" is a synonym for "totalitarian."

False

T/F Acemoglu believes that there is no correlation between geography and prosperity.

False

T/F After 1994, support for democracy in El Salvador rapidly collapsed in the face of economic decline and increasing criminal violence.

False

T/F Bolivia has some of the highest gender inequality in government in Latin America, with less than 9% of elected offices being held by women.

False

T/F El Salvador has historically faced extreme levels of violence due to persistent ethnic cleavages.

False

T/F El Salvador is the least densely populated country in Central America.

False

T/F Guatemala has a highly stable party system with three political parties that traditionally win most of the vote: UNE, Vamos, and Semilla.

False

T/F In Latin America, most presidents are not allowed to initiate legislation.

False

T/F In contrast, studies show that presidential systems without single-party majorities in the legislature are more prone to democratic breakdown.

False

T/F In terms of economic growth, non-democratic regimes generally perform better than democratic ones.

False

T/F Levels of press freedom in Peru are among the lowest in Latin America.

False

T/F Media sources tend to lean left, reflecting the political sentiments as well as feelings of most Costa Ricans.

False

T/F Peru has two official languages: Spanish and Quechua

False

T/F Reflecting Brazil's history as a slave colony, about 75% of Brazilians today identify as mulatto and/or black.

False

T/F The Peruvian Constitution has remained largely unchanged since it was enacted in 1828, changing only a few times through amendments.

False

T/F The capital of Brazil is also its largest city, Brasilia.

False

T/F The revolution in 1959 resulted in Cuba's most lasting transition to democracy.

False

T/F There are currently no term limits on the President of Ecuador.

False

T/F Unlike in the United States, Latin American presidents generally lack significant decree powers.

False

T/F While Cuba is a low-middle income country (per capita GDP of around $9,000), income is distributed very evenly (gini coefficient under .40).

False

T/F Latin American countries eliminated literacy restrictions on voting by 1900.

False (Some were early, by 1850s, some were much later)

Who: Salma Hayek (Mexico)

Famous Mexican actress

Who: Leader of the 1959 revolution and long-standing Communist head of government in Cuba

Fidel Castro

The first half of the Smith et al. reading covers the Conquest and the Colonial periods. Using complete sentences, identify four things you learned about these periods from the reading. Make sure each thing is unique enough and that you explain it enough that we can see the differences among them.

First, the connection between Columbus sailing and discovering the Americas and the Spaniards' conflicts with Muslims in Spain. It was very interesting to consider how the "conquistador" mentality may have lead them to seek new frontiers in which to continue. Second, I knew that there was fighting and destruction during the conquests, but I never knew to what great extents. 95% of the native population dying as a result of the conquests (be it through fighting, sicknesses, or other issues they brought to America) is astounding. Third, the fact that the colonists first turned to the native populations for forced labor and then later turned to the African continent. I had never considered that the colonists would not have brought African slaves with them as soon as they began to build on the American continent. I think it is interesting that, after many of the native population died from disease or the labor itself, the colonists were able to find a more long term option on Africa. One might think that the Africans might have also died in large numbers for the same reasons. Fourth, I never knew that Portugal was discovered independently from Spain. It is incredibly similar to the story of Columbus and Mexico: a captain drifting off course and discovering the Americas. Despite having different resources from the Mexico and Peru, it is interesting to consider that Portugal still decided to maintain a presence in present day Brazil.

Who: Keylor Navas (Costa Rica)

Football player who played for the Costa Rican National Team and later joined Real Madrid in 2014 where he won twelve titles. Also named best player of the decade.

Mexico: PRD (Partido Revolucionario Democratico)

Formed as a response to the 1988 election, which was widely viewed as fraudulent. Has focused on supporting social welfare issues and opposing market-oriented economic reforms.

Who: Possible Peru

Former President Alejandro Toledo

Peruvian Nationalist Party

Former President Ollanta Humala

From what you read, what do you think is the best way to reduce corruption in campaign financing: strict controls on private donations, or public financing? Make sure to explain your reasoning.

From the reading, I do not have a great understanding of public financing. It makes general sense, but I have questions about specifics. The potential for corruption through private donations is clear, but I also wonder if there is not ample opportunity through public donations. For example, how difficult would it be for the party currently in power to tip the scales in their favor during the next election? In terms of preference, I think for now I still prefer strict controls on private donations. This is more similar to the systems that I have grown up learning about, and better the devil you know than the devil you don't. From my understanding, most of the corruption that people complain about through the private donations system comes after the campaigns have finished (e.g. patronage). These may be easier to monitor and limit than unknown agreements made behind the curtain of public financing.

What is the name of Peru's second-most popular party, which emphasizes Fujimorismo and conservative economic policies?

Fuerza Popular

Who: General who ran Cuba for roughly 25 years before the 1959 revolution

Fulgencio Batista

What animal adorns the Mexican flag?

Golden eagle

Trejo and Ley review several alternative theories to their own about violence and organized criminal groups in Mexico. Summarize two of these alternative theories in your own words.

Greed: Business shocks provided economic incentives to cartels to fight for the control the trafficking corridors. With the crackdown on the Colombian cartels in the 1990's, the Mexican cartels were also incentivized to fight for control over the production of drugs as well. Protection: With the defeat of the PRI, the cartels no longer were guaranteed protection through federal agreements. This became particularly difficult when federal, state, and municipal leadership were from different parties - in large part leaving the cartels to fend for themselves. This led to them creating their own private militias and posturing/defending their own turf and drug industries.

What unconventional resource became the country's most important export during the nineteenth century? What was it used for?

Guano, which is bird poop. It was used to develop fertilizer, but also as an ingredient for gunpowder. Guano helped Peru expand its economy in the international arena.

Based on what you read, what path of colonialism did Guatemala follow, and how well did this correspond to the country's pursuit of independence from Spain? Explain your answer.

Guatemala came took the indigenous labor colonial path due to large indigenous populations, mainly exporting dyes. Guatemala follows the theory explained in class, having delayed attempts at independence until after the typical attempts of settler colonies but they were still before some of the slave-based economies. Guatemala is an interesting case because it was annexed so shortly after their independence. In a way, they had to fight for independence twice, once from the Spanish and a second time from the Mexicans.

Today, Guatemala's most valuable export is not sugar, bananas, or coffee--it is people. Explain.

Guatemala has such a large population in the US that they are the top remittance recipient in Central America. Those Guatemalans move to the US for work, profiting Guatemala as a whole, and thus counting as an export in this case. This is expected to grow as the US adjusts their remittance policies.

What series of events in the colonial period led to Cuba being called the "key to the Indies"? Answer in at least one good paragraph.

Havana was like a launchpad for anyone sailing back to Europe, in particular the Spanish, due to the Gulf Stream passing right off of its coast. There, sailors would stock up on provisions before beginning the sea trek across the Atlantic. Due to the large amounts of wealth that were stored there during different times of the year, Spain fortified the city after risks were exposed through a pirate attack. Once the strongholds and fortresses were built, Spain was confident that their assets were well protected.

The author argues that state intervention in the economy in Costa Rica actually goes back before 1948. What evidence does he offer for this claim? (To make things a little easier, you can talk about either the coffee industry or the banana industry, but it is probably easier to focus on the coffee industry.)

He claims that, beginning in the mid-19th century, the state financed and encouraged development in the coffee industry. Coffee was first introduced after the elites had already tried cultivating many other type of crop, with little success. The entire coffee industry, however, expanded very quickly once established in Costa Rica. It quickly became the largest export, and by the 1890's it accounted for 90% of them. Due to the lack of dependence on exports before coffee, Costa Rica did not have the same mercantilist restrictions that other Central American countries did, thus high taxes on exports were not in place. All of these factors helped Costa Rica become the wealthiest country in the region. From early on, coffee had the support of the state. For example, President Mora Porras used his economic capital to invest in becoming one of the country's largest coffee producers - which I am sure only helped state policies that dealt with coffee.

What kind of violence is Yashar trying to explain in this book, and how does it differ conceptually from other kinds of violence?

Homicidal violence. It is the most extreme and most final form of violence. There may be more brutal, but once someone is dead, they are dead. Homicide is also more reliably recorded than other forms of violence,

What is the main puzzle of Latin American development?

How and why did the areas that were valued so much by forecasters during that period fall so far behind economically?

Do you agree with Trejo and Ley's explanation for drug violence in Mexico and do you find it more compelling than the alternatives mentioned (motives, resources, threats and opportunities, etc.)? Why?

I agree with Trejo and Ley's explanation for drug violence, and I find it very compelling. It makes sense that the subnational protection would show more restraint than straightforward cartel militias due to at least the facade of government organization. In contrast, cartel militias are subject to the whims of the cartel leaders That being said, I think that the alternatives all roll into Trejo and Ley's explanation as well. For example, the alternative explanation/motive of protection is similar to, if not the same as, the idea of the cartels losing their subnational protection from local law enforcement.

Do you agree with Yahsar's theory or not, and why? Provide reasoning and evidence to back up your claims.

I agree with Yashar's theory. Her theory lines up with the trends that Dr. Hawkins and other readings have explored. For example, Chile, Costa Rica, and Uruguay have all been highlighted as countries with stronger state institutions - which is one of the three parts in Yashar's theory. (For final, include more information on what these stronger institutions mean for the theory)

The textbook provides careful definitions of several negative liberties, such as press freedom and the right to peacefully assemble. Identify two of them, define them, and explain why you think they are important. (I suppose you can also argue against them, but you'll have to work hard to persuade me.)

I think many of these freedoms are imperative to retaining other human rights. For example, the freedom of speech allows citizens to speak without being censored by the state or another authority. This is crucial to being able to maintain the state in check. Besides all of the frivolous and mundane things that we speak about, being able to freely discuss the government - its successes but also its shortcomings - allow citizens to stay more aware. Once a government begins to restrict speech, it becomes easier for the state to commit human rights violations as they know that word is less likely to get around. As the book says, freedom of speech protects against tyranny and oppression. The other negative liberty that I choose to highlight is the "equal protection under the law." This right ensures that all citizens will be treated the same by the law, free from discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender or any other factor. Similarly, to the freedom of speech, this right protects the citizens from tyranny. When the law can be applied differently to certain groups of people, subject to the whims of the judge or whomever is in charge, then the law becomes a weapon that the government may wield to shut down protests or other social movements before they even begin.

Are you persuaded by Garay's evidence for her theory and against the alternatives in Argentina? Why or why not? Are there alternative theories she overlooked?

I think that Garay provides sufficient evidence for her theory that social movements are important to the development of social policy expansion. The government should govern the people based on their needs, and social movements are, hopefully, voicing the needs of the people when the people cannot do so on their own. I think that there are plenty of examples where the social policies were expanded, but not because it was best for the people but instead because it gained influence over the poor for the party.

Social scientists have identified several important consequences of corruption. Say which one you think is most important and why, then explain how it is a consequence of corruption.

I think the most detrimental effect of corruption is the increase in cost in every aspect. The textbook mentions directly foreign investors having to consider the cost of corruption when deciding on deals, which takes potential investment away from the actual product or market that the investor was looking to deal with. But also in smaller day-to-day interactions. When a police officer accepts a bribe, the police officer is not just taking money from the private actor, but they are also reducing the money received by the government since the government no longer receives that fine. When these type of interactions are flushed out to larger scales, that could result in millions of dollars lost, money that could have been used to invest in the community or other government projects. This in turn increases the costs to the government when the government wants to implement projects that would have been subsidized by money from fines such as traffic tickets.

The author is somewhat skeptical of the "rural democracy" thesis in Costa Rica. What evidence does he present in favor of this thesis? What evidence does he present against it? What do you think about the evidence, on balance? (Hint: you can argue this based on what's in the first couple of sections.)

In favor: The lack of minerals and a subduable indigenous population prevented the Spanish from implementing the same economic policies in Costa Rica as they did in the rest of Central America. Because of those same difficulties, few settlers were attracted to the area, and the ones who did had to work the land themselves. The labor supply was too small to support large plantation style swaths of land, so the settlers would only use the land they needed. Evidence of this is provided in the historically small number of natives in Costa Rica, with a population of around 27,200 at the start of the colonial period. These natives would have had no centralized authority, so the settlers were unable to take over the entire indigenous population all at once - instead having to constantly fight against the different tribes as they encountered them. The settlers themselves were ethnically homogenous (mostly white), which removed any class cleavages in the society. They were able to develop a rural egalitarian society as urban development was stunted while the settlement continued in isolation. These factors discouraged the plantation system, instead creating a national sense of brotherhood among the settlers. Against: Studies have been done (such as the one by Lowell Gudmundson) that show the society was not a simple egalitarian society, instead it was quite complex and structured. Inequality, in reality, affected nearly everyone, with the exception being those villages or peasants that were too far away from society. Lowell claims that the peasants were in fact heterogenous, and that the separation between them and the elites was palpable. Despite not having significant racial differences, there still remained disparities in income and wealth. Contending with the notion of many small family farms, there is evidence of large cattle farms and cacao plantations - leading to a more oligarchic and undemocratic society than previous thought. I am impressed by the evidence on both sides. They seem to match each other, almost perfectly countering each point from the opposing view. Personally, I find it hard to believe that plantations or large-scale farming operations would not have flourished in a tropical climate such as Costa Rica. The earth is just too fertile for the elites to not take advantage of it as they did in other regions.

In a few sentences, describe the goal of ISI, some of its policy prescriptions, and how well it performed.

ISI, or "import-substitution industrialization", sought to protect national markets in Latin America during the world-wide Great Depression of the 1930's. Many of the Latin American countries were reliant on their exports to the US and Europe, but these countries were no longer looking to buy during the Depression. There were three main goals of the ISI: assert economic independence, create jobs, and promote economic growth. These policies were largely successful from the 1940's to the 1970's. Annual growth rate averages stayed around 5 or even 6% during these decades. However, as states continued to expand the ISI programs due to their widespread success, they created overprotected and inefficient markets. These were destined for failure as they had a saturated market with a captive consumer paying the price of inflation.

Party system institutionalization can also represent something normatively negative. Why is it sometimes bad for democracy? Can you think of any Latin American country--not mentioned in the reading--where the party system is institutionalized in this negative way?

If a party system is institutionalized with a hegemonic system in place than democracy is basically cast aside in favor of whatever the extremely powerful party decides. It is difficult to then remove that party later. These regimes often become autocratic, only democratic in appearance. Other times, a few parties will band together to institutionalize the party system. They do this with the goal to exclude other parties. This is bad for democracy as the collusion limits the possibility of free and fair elections. Finally, some institutionalized party systems implement restrictions on who can vote. Again, this is bad for democracy as the elections are no longer freely available to the population. One example of this could be El Salvador. We learned about the democratic backsliding taking place there a couple weeks ago with Nayib Bukele and the policies that he has put into place to stifle the opposition and strengthen himself and his party.

According to Fox, clientelism in Mexico was transformed under the PRI from the 1970s through the early 1990s. In a medium-sized paragraph, describe this transformation, making sure to provide specific examples.

In 1973 Mexico launched its "Program for Rural Development Investments," the first of three waves of rural development programs that were designed to stabilize the regime and provide alternative channels for the poor. The second wave was in 1979, with the third coming still later. Often times these programs would be implemented through semi-clientelistic channels. While benefitting those areas that were chosen for the program, the regime still controlled which areas were chosen in the first place. They selected areas that would receive the benefits as concessions, attempting to cool the "political hotspots" and the tensions there. By creating jobs and otherwise improving the economy, the government was able to undermine efforts to destabilize the regime. From the Rural Development project, Mexico moved on to the Village Food Store Program in 1979. The objective of this program was to regain investor confidence and legitimizing both the program and the regime. The program provided benefits such as transportation that the poor could use to overcome barriers that previously prevented regionla organization. While individuals or small groups of the poor are easily dismissed, larger regional groups were much harder to ignore. These peasant groups were powerful because they had the potential to maintain the responsiveness of smaller groups, but they held the power and clout of a large organization. Through these councils, the system began to turn away from traditional ways of subordination and turn towards a mix of semiclientelism and respect for autonomy.

What is the difference between closed-list and open-list proportional representation? Answer in just a sentence.

In a closed-list proportional representation system, a voter chooses a party list to vote for. They cannot alter the rankings of candidates within each party list. In an open-list proportional representation system, a voter has the choice to select one or two of the candidates from one party, or to select the party as a whole.

Why do runoff systems lead to more candidates and parties? Explain in your own words.

In contrast to a plurality system where smaller parties are viewed sometimes as a waste of a vote; runoff systems give these smaller parties more potential power. Even if they are not close to a winning percentage in the first round, small party advocates can then turn to second round contenders with their voting body as a bargaining chip. In return for pledging their support (and therefore the support of their voters) these smaller parties can ask for certain policies or other demands.

Advocates and proponents of compulsory voting in Latin America each have several compelling arguments. In your own words, describe one of these arguments in favor and one argument against. Then tell us which side you find most compelling and why.

In favor: Compulsory voting brings more authority to the elected official once the vote is complete. When everyone votes, the winner is more likely to be the person that the country wants as leader. There is less risk that one group with a small overall population may shift the polls simply due to their strong voter turnout. Against: Compulsory voting crosses the line of a citizen exercising a right to the government enforcing an obligation. The right to vote, along with most other rights, should not be something that citizens are forced to do. In contrast, if the government is forcing their citizens to vote then the citizens are less free, as their freedom to not vote is being taken away. While compulsory voting may sound great at first, the more I read about the potential drawbacks the more I seem to be against it. The argument based on rights not being obligations hits home, as does the idea that voters forced to vote may be less politically aware since it is something they are being forced to do. I believe that the ideal situation would be to have voluntary voting, but with a government that educates its citizens on the benefits of informed voting.

Presidential systems are distinguished by three necessary features: directly elected president, fixed term for the president, and executive powers residing with the president. How does a parliamentary system differ from a presidential one? Explain in just a few sentences.

In parliamentarism the head of government is the prime minister (not to be confused with the head of state, who is usually a monarch or another figurehead of some sort). The prime minister and the rest of the cabinet are what makes up the government. These hold their power through votes of confidence made by the parliament, which contrasts the fixed terms of office that presidents enjoy.

Which of the following were significant exports from El Salvador during the colonial period? Pick all that apply.

Indigo Dye and Cacao

Name one of Guatemala's main exports during the colonial era.

Indigo and Cochineal were the main exports.

Generally speaking, what is party system institutionalization? Answer in just a sentence or two

Institutionalization means that parties behave in a stable manner and have clear expectations of other parties or actors. Patterns of action establish expectations for future actions.

What is "Why have South American countries rarely gone to war with each other during the 20th century?" an example of?

International Relations

In a few sentences, explain what the Washington Consensus consisted of and how well it worked.

International economists came up with a package of policies designed to help the Latin American countries cure their debt crisis, known as the "Washington Consensus. The package consisted of three main changes for Latin American governments: they should support private business (both foreign and domestic), they should liberalize polices on trade, and they should reduce the economic role of the state. The implementation of the Washington Consensus was less successful than hoped, with reductions in state involvement led to large sets of layoffs of personnel and the dehabilitation of institutions that would have otherwise helped with the implementation of the very same Consensus.

Who: First female president of Argentina, assumed office on the death of her husband

Isabel Perón

Why was the election of 2000 significant for Mexico's democracy?

It was the first time in 71 years that the PRI lost a presidential election. It was significant that this began a new era of democracy and competition in Mexico.

Why was Costa Rica's election of 1889 such a big deal?

It was the first time that an opposition candidate had won office and was then actually allowed to take office.

When did the EZLN start and what were their goals?

January 1, 1994. They fought to obtain the constitutional protection of economic, political, and social rights of indigenous people in Mexico. EZLN opposed NAFTA.

Example of a one party (also known as dominant or hegemonic party) system

Japan (until 2009)

Who: led the first Brazilian major outbreak against Portuguese rule, in 1789

Joaquim José da Silva Xavier (Tiradentes)

Who: Patriarch of independence and, after independence, the minister of the interior and of foreign affairs

José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva

Who: Writer, poet, and hero of the independence movement from Spain

José Martí

Which individual acted as El Salvador's first head of state?

José Matías Delgado

Who: Guatemalan Independence leader and later president

José Rafael Carrera Turcios

Who: Principal military leader of the war for independence, in Argentina and much of South America.

José de San Martín

What is labor union density, and has it been increasing or decreasing in recent decades in Latin America?

Labor union density is the percentage of workers belonging to a labor union. It has sharply declined in many Latin American countries.

Sokoloff and Engerman provide two kinds of evidence that initial inequalities in factor endowments across the American colonies were perpetuated through political institutions and government policies after independence. Which two institutions or policies do they highlight as evidence, and what pattern do they find for each?

Large scale agriculture owned by a small number of elites enabled the land owners to implement land policies that ensured they remained in power. One example of policies that reinforced their power was that of voting restrictions to those that owned land. Suffrage is the other policy.

Who: Victor Paz Estenssoro (Peru)

Leader and founder of the MNR, served several terms as president from the 1950s through the 1980s

Who: Agustín de Iturbide (Mexico)

Leader of Mexico's later, successful movement for independence; first emperor of Mexico

What does the term "legislative autonomy" refer to?

Legislative autonomy is the ability for a congressional body to carry out its main functions independently of the president.

Who: José Eloy Alfaro Delgado (Ecuador)

Liberal president of Ecuador who helped overthrew the conservative government. Nationalized the religious property held by the Catholic Church and oversaw the building of the Quito-Guayaquil railroad. Remained in power until killed by a violent mob.

Bolivia is 70% urbanized. Is that higher or lower than most Latin American countries we've studied?

Lower

Scholars had identified several general causes of corruption. Identify two of these causes and, in your own words, explain how each one causes corruption.

Lower income countries are more likely to experience higher rates of corruption as they are less able to pay their public officials a higher wage. As officials are paid less for their work, they become more susceptible to bribes or other corrupt activity to increase their personal wealth. There is also a higher likelihood of corruption in countries that have weak institutions. For example, if there are no effective implementors of the rule of law, then officials have less reason to fear being punished for their illegal behavior and are more likely to engage in corrupt acts. This is especially true in regions with high levels of regulation as the opportunities for bribes are much higher (e.g. police traffick stops or other bureaucratic processes)

Who: National Solidarity Party (Peru)

Luis Castañeda Lossio, Mayor of Lima

According to what you read, which of the following leaders is actually not very populist?

Lázaro Cárdenas

In a mixed system, what two types of electoral rules are being mixed?

Majoritarian and proportional representation rules are combined.

Populism is a Manichaean discourse. In your own words, what does "Manichaean" mean?

Manichaean means that there is a good vs evil situation. The will of the people is considered Good, and it pitches them against the Evil elite class.

Who: Patriot who created the first Argentine flag.

Manuel Belgrano

What is prosecutorial immunity, and how can it reinforce corruption?

Many countries give their legislators and other members of government partial immunity from prosecution. This means that a high court, or the legislature itself, must first decide to lift the immunity before legal cases can proceed against the legislator or member of government in question. This reinforces corruption because it provides them with yet another layer of protection. Especially if many legislators or judges are also corrupt; they will not vote or make a decision that could also lead to their own prosecution later.

Which indigenous group successfully resisted Spanish conquest in southern Argentina (and Chile)?

Mapuches

The Guatemalan civil war resulted in many casualties. Of the 200,000 people killed, a disproportionate 83% came from which ethnic group?

Mayan

What is Costa's Rica's largest export today?

Medical instruments are Costa Rica's largest export. (I will add, however, that the report mentions that tourism is Costa Rica's largest source of income).

Dependency theory is very concerned with time. What are the three historical periods of development that it focuses on?

Mercantilistic period (1750-1914) The Period of crisis of the "Liberal Model" (1914-1950) The Period of "Transnational Capitalism" (current)

What products account for most of Peru's exports today?

Metals such as copper ore and gold are the country's largest exports (accounting for 40.5% of exports). Other resources such as refined petroleum and zinc are the next two largest exports.

What do Trejo and Ley say explains the outbreak of violence among organized criminal groups in Mexico? Summarize their theory in a few sentences.

Mexican cartels depended on a series of local operations to protect their turf and their drug trafficking. When the PRI fell at the national level, the subnational political landscape changed with new party alternatives becoming a reality in many states, making it more difficult for the cartels to coordinate protection. This led the cartels to raise their own militias to ward off enemy cartels and even government opposition.

Which Latin American country annexed Guatemala shortly after independence?

Mexico

What do you think- is it better for electoral rules to cultivate a personal vote, or better for them to cultivate a party vote? Why? Discuss in a good paragraph.

My understanding is that cultivating a personal vote implies cultivating a culture where voters vote based on the individual candidates, their policies, their personalities, etc. Cultivatinga party vote refers to cultivating a culture where voters vote based on established party platforms. I think that the shortcut provided by party identification is extremely useful, especially for less informed voters. However, this also provides an opportunity for parties to take advantage of their platform and those same less informed voters. As a result, I think that electoral rules should try to cultivate a personal vote. Emphasizing a personal vote will have a greater impact in lead up votes, such as primaries. Regardless, I think there are a considerable amount of the population of a given country that will vote along party lines, using the shortcut they provide, regardless of the electoral rules.

What is the most common indigenous language in Mexico? (Hint: not Spanish)

Nahuatl

Which of the following are Cuba's top three exports today?

Nickel, Sugar, and Tobacco

Who: Jefferson Pérez (Ecuador)

Olympic speedwalker

How did wealthy residents of Havana use the British victory over the Spanish to their economic advantage? More generally, how did this change the island economy? Answer in at least one good paragraph.

Once the British were victorious, the wealthy residents of Havana hurried to develop the sugar industry in the region. It was quickly becoming more and more popular across Europe and North America. This change had a huge impact on the island, leading to large deforestation projects and the repopulating of regions that were left empty after the initial conquests. Having seen Britain's work on other islands in the Carribean, the wealthy of Havana knew that the British wanted sugar and they were willing to be their supplier. This also led to African slaves being brought to the island to help with the crop. This resulted in the size of the slave population increasing by 80% in less than a year. These factors lead Cuba's economy to be dependent on sugar for the next couple of centuries.

Mexico: MORENA (Movimiento Regeneración Nacional)

One of Mexico's newer parties, having been founded in 2014. Has enjoyed electoral success and favors left-wing economic policies. The current President of Mexico belongs to this party.

According to the class-conflict theory of Huber et. al., democracy is fundamentally a matter of:

Organizational power

Which of the segments of Latin American civil society that you read about for today was the first to gain an active voice in Latin American politics?

Organized labor

Mexico: PAN (Partido de Accion Nacional)

Originally established as a conservative party to counter the secular/leftist policies of the government. Historically favored by Roman Catholics and the business sector.

What makes the high levels of corruption in Argentina today so puzzling? Answer in a couple of sentences.

Other settler colonies such as Chile or Uruguay have much less corruption. They ranked 98 out of 180 for corruption and has a score of 38 for transparency (100 being perfect transparency, 0 being highly corrupt). The corruption seems to be widespread, affecting several of the most important governmental institutions. Enforcement of anti-corruption policies is lackluster, and bribery is the norm.

Party system institutionalization is generally seen as "normatively positive" (good for countries and their citizens). What good things is it supposed to provide?

Party system institutionalization supposedly widens the horizons of political elites, which allows them to invest in long term economic growth. It also decreases the chances of democratic breakdown as incentives for disloyalty are diminished.

What is the national music of Ecuador and what instrument is it usually accompanied by?

Pasillo, usually accompanied by a traditional guitar

Who was the "King of Futbol"?

Pele (Edson Arantes do Nascimento)

Who was Juan Perón? Give us a few important facts about him.

Peron became president of Argentina in 1946 as a member of the Labour Party. His administration nationalized several industries and paid off nearly all of the country's external debt. In 1947 he enacted universal suffrage. Despite these successes, there was also widespread political repression and Argentina slowly fell into a dictatorship in all but name. Peron was the leader until he died in 1974. Peron was a founding member of the Justicialist Party in 1946 (originally called the Labour Party).

After its independence, Bolivia had a rocky relationship with some of its neighbors. With which neighboring country did Bolivia form a short-lived confederation?

Peru

Which Latin American country deviates the most from the typical presidential institutional structure and acts as a semi-presidential system?

Peru

Which colonial path did Peru follow? Provide evidence from the readings. (You should know the three paths by now, otherwise review your notes from the first week.)

Peru followed the indigenous based colonial path. The Incans provided a large population for the colonists to put to work, which was taken advantage of by Francisco Pizarro. This "encomienda" system was later replaced by the "repartimiento" system, which allowed the workers to be compensated for their labor.

What notable event radically changed Ecuador's economy in 1967?

Petroleum was discovered and quickly became the country's most valuable export.

In your own words, what is meant by petty corruption and grand corruption?

Petty corruption involves public officials in their interactions with normal people, such as a police officer receiving a bribe during a traffic stop. Grand corruption typically happens at a much higher level and directly affects many more people. This could be more along the lines of large scale embezzling or human rights issues.

Who: Franklin Chang Díaz (Costa Rica)

Physicist, mechanical engineer, and NASA Astronaut from San José, Costa Rica. He is the founder and CEO of the Ad Astra Rocket Company, which was incorporated into NASA in 2005.

How does plea bargaining help reduce corruption?

Plea bargaining helps reduce corruption by increasing the risk that public officials must accept when engaging in corrupt behavior. In several cases, prosecutors were able to better understand and dismntle sophisticated criminal organizations with the help of information given during plea bargains.

What is "should voting be mandatory or not?" an example of?

Political Philosophy

Today, Peruvian politicians tend to behave like free agents, and their parties are "coalitions of independents." Explain these related depictions in your own words.

Politicians are not expected to spend their whole careers under the wing of one single party. Instead, they campaign on their own, often forming parties as they go or reaching out to other parties for temporary support for specific elections. Especially for presidential candidates, parties are created not to stabilize the party system, but to provide a personalistic vehicle for the candidate. Candidates running on a personalistic vehicle will look for other other candidates that will help win votes to fill in their ticket. After negotiating, they will often form temporary alliances known as "coalitions of independents."

Who: José María Velasco Ibarra (Ecuador)

Populist president who served (sometimes partial terms) five different times in the mid-twentieth century.

Civil liberties usually consist of basic negative liberties, so what is a positive liberty? Explain and give an example.

Positive liberties are based on the idea that freedom requires the ability to act. So, often, these liberties also require a system or someone else to provide a benefit. Examples of these would be the right to a free education, where the government may provide the teachers and the facilities, which the citizen then may attend.

Who: Laura Chinchilla Miranda (Costa Rica)

President of Costa Rica from 2010-2014. Known for helping the Costa Rican economy recover from the international economic crisis of 2007-2008. Also promoted childcare, the creation of the Citizen Security and Social Peace Policy and renewable energy.

Who: Miguel Hidalgo (Mexico)

Priest who leads the initial, unsuccessful independence movement; associated with the "grito de Dolores"

What does public procurement refer to, and what are typical solutions to corruption in this area?

Public procurement is when the government acquires goods and services, which provides many opportunities for corrupt officials to acquire goods and services for themselves instead. Typical solutions to corruption in this area include: ensuring real competition in the bidding process, establishing oversight mechanisms, and improving transparency along the entire process.

Besides the Peronist Party (Partido Justicialista), what are the two major parties in Argentina today, and what are their political positions?

Radical Civic Union (UCR) used to be the primary opposition party to the Peronists in the 20th. They get most of their support from the urban middle class. The UCR has struggled to win presidential elections, but supports the Together for Change alliance which backed the 2015 president elect. The party favors neoliberalism and more centralist social policy. As a staunch supporter of democratic ideals, the UCR views the PJ as a threat to democracy. The other major party is Republican Proposal (PRO), founded in 2005. They also favor a center-right platform, but are primarily focused on economic issues. This is highlighted as President Macri (of the PRO) worked for much of his presidency to reduce the national debt while stimulating the economy.

What key figure was originally against Peruvian independence, but decided to join the independence effort after becoming a prisoner of war?

Ramon Castilla

Who: Carlos Mesa (Peru)

Recent former president, journalist, and leader of the opposition to Evo Morales.

Who: Famous Guatemalan singer

Ricardo Arjona

What is Roberts' own theory about the relationship between varieties of capitalism and left/right brands of populism? Summarize it in a couple of sentences. Then, in a few more sentences, say whether you like his theory better than the alternatives he mentioned, and why.

Right brands of populism is more likely in varieties of capitalism that have more unified labor markets and more universalistic welfare states. In these scenarios, even the poor are not considered outsiders - instead they are seen as members of "the people" that are trying to protect the little that they have. Left brands of populism are more successful in the more exclusionary varieties of capitalism. This more inclusive brand of populism is paradoxically more likely in the exclusionary forms of capitalism. I think I prefer Roberts' explanation. It makes sense that the variation of populism adjusts to the type of capitalism present in the region, and then works against the established order or elite.

Roberts notes that all populists tend to draw antagonistic lines between "the people" and a powerful elite. According to Roberts, how do right populists tend to define "the people"? How does this differ from how left populists define this group?

Right populists define "the people" as an ethnonational group that has "heartland" values and identities. These will often contain a religious component. Left populists always contest elites along a sociological dimension of conflict - not along class lines. These include political outsiders even crossing class lines.

Who: Nobel prize winner (peace)

Rigoberta Menchú Tum

According to Roberts, other scholars have given alternative explanations for why left populists are common in places like Greece, Spain and Latin America. Summarize one of these alternative arguments in your own words, then describe the evidence that Roberts offers against it.

Rodrick links financial shocks to the rise in left-wing populists, but this is refuted by the fact that not all of the Latin American countries experienced increased levels of left-wing populism.

Who: Liberal president who oversaw the implementation of universal male suffrage (Argentina)

Roque Sáenz Peña

Several Latin American countries have constitutions that restrict property rights. What is the typical rationale for this? Do you agree with this reasoning? Why or why not? Make sure to explain both arguments (theirs and yours) and to provide evidence for your own.

Some governments reserve the right to expropriate land once a landowner surpasses a specified statutory limit. This gives the government the ability to regulate private property for the social benefit. Once the government has control over a piece of land, they can then redistribute it as they see fit. The Chilean president Eduardo Frei Montalva argued that the protection of property was useless if the property was in fact inaccessible to most of the population. In the ideal scenario, landowners are compensated for land that is expropriated. I think that I agree with this reasoning, but struggle to see consistent, successful implementation in the real world. It is simply too difficult for a government to begin to restrict property rights and still maintain high levels of other human rights. Often, a country will expropriate industries or land when they are already on the downward slope economically and socially. I feel like the two most well-known countries that expropriate are Venezuela and Cuba, both of which began to do so at an accelerated rate in an attempt to improve their economy and to get rid of foreign investment and influence. However, both of those countries at the same time were experiencing extremely low levels of democracy, even crossing into dictatorship - with many of the human rights violations that come with that regime type. The other side of the argument is that property rights should be of the same level as other civil liberties. The system that protects private property rights will provide greater social utility than one without property rights. Property rights encourage investment, economic productivity, and self-reliance among the citizens as they feel safe that their purchases will be protected.

What subregional patterns in democratization does Smith also observe?

South America became democratic more quickly than Central America and the Caribbean

Using the Smith reading as your guide, define "civil society" in one short sentence.

Standing between the State and the private lives of the citizens, civil society is the part of social life where citizens can act collectively in an open and voluntary way within a bound set of social rules.

In just a sentence or two, what is the difference between "statism" and "stateness"?

Statism refers to the tendency of states to intervene in the economy, whereas stateness refers to the capacity of states to assert themselves over the national territory - both designing policies and implementing them within their border and abroad.

What is the difference between substantive and descriptive representation? Answer in a sentence or two.

Substantive representation refers to the activities done by the legislators that advance the interests and demands of the voters, also including casework on behalf of the voters. Descriptive representation, on the other hand, focuses on how much the representative resembles their constituents (taking special note of identifying features such as gender, ethnicity, and race).

Today, Brazil has a more diversified, industrialized economy. Which of the following are significant exports, with over 5% of the total?

Sugar, Iron ore, Petroleum, Soybeans, Cars/Trucks/Aircraft

Which forms of nonprogrammatic politics are most problematic for democracy, and why? Do you agree with the authors reasoning? If so, why?

The "private, hidden, side deals," are considered the most problematic as they unequally impact voters. More public displays, such as turnout buying is considered more acceptable as it impacts a wider range of individuals. The private ones only impact those participating. In a similar fashion, coercive methods severely undermine democracy. Other methods that simply influence or persuade voters to go to the polls are not that bad, but once it becomes coercive (with the use of force or threats), then the environment becomes toxic and dangerous for the public. The authors are mainly concerned with the nonprogrammatic politics that are coercive

Why did the British West Indies and the Spanish-speaking countries of Central American and the Caribbean take such different approaches to growing worker activism in the 1930s? Answer in a few sentences.

The British West Indies were ruled by Britain, which reflected less the landlord or military control of state situation. This meant that the state did not have to rely on coercive measures to be able to control the protesting working classes. In the British West Indies, civil society was allowed to be organized, while in the Spanish-speaking countries the pattern of coercive force and state control of civil society only became more engrained. These differences arose due to the fact that state action in the British West Indies responded to the shifts in power in England, not in the local Caribbean. This is contrasted with the Caribbean, where the local landowners reacted to the local shifts in power, attempting to consolidate and maintain their own regimes.

What is the CGT in Argentina?

The CGT is the General Confederation of Labor, founded in 1930. Peron took over the union when he was the Minister of Labour and grew the union to 2 million members. The union was later suppressed during the military rule, but survived, nonetheless. When Peron became president once again, the union was expanded to include white collar workers as well.

Why did President Jimmy Morales and his allies try to shut down CICIG? Were they successful?

The CICIG began looking into politicians, even successfully going after the president at one point. Jimmy Morales began opposing more vocally the CICIG when they began investigating him for "illicit campaign finance." Morales and other politicians claimed that the CICIG were attempting a coup, which was a national threat. Based on the way the congress began passing bills to lessen the penalty for corruption during this time, I would also guess that CICIG was disbanded due to the saturation of corruption throughout the legislators. Seeing their counterparts get taken down, they did their best to avoid it themselves. At first, they were not successful in shutting down the CICIG. The Constitutional Court blocked their attempts. However, Velazquez, the commission leader, was not allowed back into Guatemala and had to direct its operations from abroad until the term of the mission was completed in 2019.

What lessons do you think CICIG teaches us about the challenge of eliminating corruption in countries such as Guatemala? Explain your reasoning and give a bit of evidence to illustrate.

The CICIG shows just how tough it is to eliminate corruption due to the fact that those with the power to eliminate corruption the fastest, also have the greatest incentive not to eliminate it. In the case of the CICIG, the politicians were happy to have international help to root out organized crime - until the CICIG started cracking down on the politicians involved as well. Quickly, many politicians then proceeded to oppose the mission. I think that the changes in policy that followed (opposing the CICIG, reducing penalties for corruption, etc) are evidence of steps that those in power take to remain in power (which ironically could be another example of corruption on its own). The politicians are the ones benefitting from it, so why would they enact legislation to counteract that?

What was the Debt Crisis, and what was the Lost Decade?

The Debt Crisis took place in the 1980's. Due to attractive interest rates during the 1970's, Latin American countries borrowed tons of money, but soon, in the 1980's they would be unable to pay those loads back. Mexico, for example, shocked the world when they announced that they would be unable to service their loans in 1982. As a result of the widespread debt throughout the region, the 1980's became known as the Lost Decade

In one to two sentences, what was the Estado Novo in Brazil?

The Estado Novo, or "New State," was the strong dictatorship that Getulio Vargas established through censorship of the media and the dissolving of state governments (except for one). During the Estado Novo, Vargas implemented new importation policies that went well for Brazil during that time.

What is Costa Rica's national symbol?

The Guaria Morada, a purple orchid.

There is currently one main party in Bolivia (the other large, traditional party is no longer significant, and the rest of the opposition is fairly fragmented). What is its name, who founded it, and where does it lie ideologically?

The Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) was founded in 1998 by former president Evo Morales. MAS lies leftist, and opposes imperliazation and neoliberal reform. The party supports the re-nationalization of key economic sectors, the defense of national sovereignty, and the protection of native traditions.

The book identifies corruption scandals associated with Odebrecht, CICIG, and a few other heads of state. We will talk about CICIG on Thursday; briefly describe what the Odebrecht scandal was about and why it became a global affair.

The Odebrecht Scandal involved a large Brazilian construction company, Odebrecht, whose chief executive was prosecuted for bribery and money laundering all over the world. In exchange for a reduced sentence, Odebrecht gave information that led to the arrests and prosecutions of many other employees. The bribes and money laundering were no small level ordeals, instead often involving high level officials such as President Lula de Silva of Brazil and former President Ollanta Humala of Peru. Many other officials in many other countries were also involved, with countries like the USA also simply prosecuting the company as a whole for its illegal practices as well.

Up until recently, Costa Rica had a strong two party system. Which parties dominated Costa Rican politics?

The PLN and the Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC)

What was the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path)? Does it still exist today?

The Shining Path is a Marxist-Maoist guerilla group in Peru, which has carried out many terrorist attacks across the country. They started out with small scale demonstrations but have since grown to conduct bombings, political assassinations and even an attack on the Peruvian power grid. They still exist today, but after the arrest of their leader in 1992 they have lost much of their power.

Name two of the symbols on the Argentine flag or coat of arms.

The Sun of May and the red cap at the top of a brown spike.

Yashar explains these trends in violence with a three-part theory. What are each of those parts? What kind of theory is she arguing against?

The Transnational illicit economy, state capacity, and territorial competition among organizations. The transnational illicit economy set the stage for high levels of violence by introducing high valued illegal products. This economy is more susceptible to violence because it encourages the enforcement of boundaries and territories. Due to the illegal nature of this economy, there are no legal ways to remedy issues and conflict - leading cartels to figure it out in their own ways. State capacity also impacts the levels of violence due to the fact that illicit organizations are more likely to take root in areas with weak or even complicit institutions. These organizations seek areas with less monitoring, or where they are more likely to be able to create a situation of collusion. Territorial competition among organizations is potentially the largest factor of violence. Where organizations have complete control over an area, there are low levels of violence - but where there are multiple organizations of similar levels of strength violence will be high. This comes as organizations compete to assert dominance over the area and market. She is arguing against national and formal patterns.

When did CICIG start, why was it started, what was its mission, how was it designed to interface with the Guatemalan justice system, and how well did it carry out this mission? Answer in a good paragraph with a bit of detail, especially about its successes.

The UN created the CICIG at the request of the Guatemalan government to help combat organized crime. This was done through a mix of independent investigations and operations, through collaborations with the Guatemalan government, and through public policy recommendations. This mission was innovative in the fact that it was hybrid in nature, not just technological assistance or trainings. For example, the commission could freely investigate within Guatemala, but they required the Attorney General to prosecute. Even still, with the assistance of the CICIG, they were all still working through the court system, which was quite corrupt and slowed down progress.

Example of a two-party system

The US

In a few sentences, describe some of the ways in which the United States had a positive impact on the transition to democracy in El Salvador during the 1980s.

The US strengthened democratic actors in El Salvador by giving them resources and even incentives to leave the authoritarian coalitions. US military aid was leveraged, resulting in competitive elections beginning in 1982 and improvement in human rights throughout the decade. US military aid also helped defeat the FMLN, who, if they had won the war instead, would have likely installed a left-wing dictator.

What are currently Ecuador's three main parties (one of the four parties in the profile is now defunct), and where do they stand ideologically?

The Union for Hope Party (UNES): UNES was formed as a coalition by Correa in 2020 with the Democratic Center Movement. They fall on as center-left ideologically, replacing the PAIS Alliance which began to move to the right under Moreno's direction in 2017. Creating Opportunities Movement (CREO): CREO is a center-right party as well. They typically run on a market-oriented platform, advocating for democratic values such as freedom of speech and press. Pachakutik Plurinational Unity Movement: This is an indigenist left wing party, born during the indigenous mobilization of 1995. It runs on a platform of environmentalism, indigenous rights, and land recognition.

What was the United Fruit Company, and why did they have a conflict with President Jacobo Arbenz? Answer in a few sentences.

The United Fruit Company (UFC) was a huge private company from the United States. They dominated the banana business in the region, but also controlled large portions of Guatemala's infrastructure such as railways, ports, and telegraph lines. Jacobo Arbenz, upon taking office, implemented agrarian reform that caused the UFC to begin losing some of its land, potentially reducing the power of the UFC. His reform plans also garnered communist support which spooked the US. As a result, the CIA backed a group of Guatemalan exiles who eventually forced Arbenz to resign.

Who is Mexico's principal trading partner? What economic agreement is responsible for this disproportionate relationship?

The United States. NAFTA is the North American Free Trade Agreement that is responsible for the disproportionate relationship.

What unique geological landmark is also the highest point in Guatemala?

The Volcan Tajumulco

What is the Wiphala and who does it represent?

The Wiphala is a flag with 7 different colors. It has 49 little squares that come together to form a 7x7 square. The flag represents the indigenous people in the region.

Lula was a founding member and leader of what political party?

The Worker's Party (PT)

Authoritarian dictatorship

The absence of elections, or the holding of patently fraudulent elections

How does the World Bank define corruption? Provide the definition, then give hypothetical example of it (say, a bribe) and explain how it fits the definition.

The abuse of public office for private benefit. An example of this is embezzling public funds into the bank accounts of family or friends. This is corruption because the official is using his position of authority over the use of the public funds to get private gain financially.

What is "programmatic distribution"? Do you agree with the authors' criteria? Why or why not?

The author defines "programmatic distribution" as distribution that has clear and public criteria. These criteria will be formalized into a program so that people can understand the requirements for participation. Often times these criteria will be debated upon publicly before being enacted. These criteria will then actually shape the distribution of resources. I think I agree with this definition. Once the criterion for distribution becomes unknown, or the criteria no longer shape the actual distribution, then the program becomes more suspect. Subject to the will of the distributors, the program is no longer something that the public can depend on.

In dependency theory, what is meant by the "center" and the "periphery," and how does the former constrain the latter?

The center is capable of dynamic development responsive to internal needs, and it is the main beneficiary of global links. The periphery has more of a reflexive type of development. The periphery is constrained by the global system into which it is incorporated. It will be adapted to the requirements of the expansion of the "center"

In what way is the colonial experience a "natural experiment" showing the limited impact of geography, and the significant impact of institutions, on economic development? Explain in a good paragraph. Make sure to talk about the "reversal of fortune."

The colonial experience was a "natural experiment" because it provided an instance where the geography stayed the same, but the institutions and regimes changed drastically. If geography was a large influencer of economic prosperity, then the countries that were rich before the colonial experience should have stayed rich during and after the colonial experience as well. Due to the range of methods used in different colonies, we can also see the effect of different levels of institutions in the colonial experience: if institutions are a large factor, then the colonies that developed better institutions should be richer than those that did not. The "reversal of fortune" highlights a trend that the most developed ancient civilizations are often replaced by the poorest of societies. The reading gives the examples of Moghuls in India or the Aztecs in Mexico, two of the richest civilizations of their times - yet after colonization they struggled to maintain their riches and became less developed in comparison to the rest of the world. On the other hand, less developed regions that were subject to the colonial experience are often more developed countries now (e.g. New Zealand, Canada, etc). These trends are consistent with the theory of the importance of good institutions. In regions with large, established indigenous populations, the Europeans arrived and set up extractive institutions. These extractive institutions took advantage of the indigenous or slave populations, with little or no protection of property and no limits on the power of the elites - and certainly provided little equality across society. In contrast, the areas that were less developed were settled by Europeans in settler colonies. In these regions, with little or no indigenous labor, the settlers established institutions that would protect themselves from the abuse of power. In both cases, the institutions that they set up during the colonial periods may have largely dictated later economic development and success.

In populism, who is always the Good and who is the Evil? Explain in your own words.

The common people are always the Good, and the elite class is always the Evil.

Mexico: PRI (Partido Revolucionario Institucional)

The country's first and longest-lasting party. Has dominated Mexican politics in a hegemonic way for most of the country's history. The defeat of this party signaled a new era of democracy in Mexico.

According to Fox, what caused this transformation of clientelism in Mexico? How well does this support the theory you read earlier from Stokes et al.? Explain your answer in detail.

The demand for social movements caused cracks to begin appearing in the PRI machine and set the groundwork for further autonomy. This is similar to how Stokes describes the transition to more programmatic distribution. Before, programs in Mexico were used almost as a weapon, like a carrot and stick situation. If an area seemed like it might cause trouble, a program would be implemented to prevent further issues - but the true decision making was somewhat suspicious and behind closed doors. As the people began to taste the more standardized programs of the late 70's and 80's they began to want more of that same type. Being able to understand the decision-making process and having greater access to benefits were both issue that led the Mexican people to support those programs more. Fox describes this transition as slow and uneven, which makes sense in light of Stoke's descriptions of real-life implementation of programmatic distribution. Not only does it take longer to implement, but once implemented it may take time and practice for the people to fully understand the process - but once programmatic distribution takes hold, normally it is much preferred to non-programmatic. Brokers also form a main part of the clientelism in Mexico.

According to the article you read, which is the best definition of populism?

The discursive one

Which of the following is NOT a good explanation for the increase of women holding legislative office in Latin America?

The drastic increase in the number of "suplente" positions offered to women

The article suggests a few broad reasons why Brazilian legislators actually follow the line of their party leaders and that of the president. Summarize at least two of these reasons, taking care to provide some of the detail the authors included.

The executive holds great power over the legislators (setting the agenda and restricting their transformative power), and the parties follow internal rules that centralize the decision making through the parties. As a result, party discipline is highly enforced. By controlling these aspects of the legislative body, the executive and the parties are able to discourage candidates from attempting to develop the personal vote.

Electoral democracy

The existence of free and fair elections

Sokoloff and Engerman agree with other economists about the role of institutions in economic development, but they try to explain where these institutions come from. They emphasize three different paths of colonization and the factors endowments (land, labor, capital) that characterized or determined them. What are these paths, and what are the differences in land, labor, and capital endowments in each? How well do these correspond with the 3 paths of colonization you learned about at the beginning of the semester?

The first path is that of the slave colonies. With the majority of immigrants coming to Latin America being slaves, colonies that specialized in products such as sugar or tobacco were able to have the highest GDP per capita's (including slaves) in the region. That being said, as prosperity increased so did the levels of inequality - even among the free. These inequalities led to the development of institutions that protected the elites' privileges and restricted the mobility of the lower classes. Many of these remained even after the abolishment of slavery. The second path is that of the indigenous colonies. These colonies were those that had large numbers of the indigenous population survive first contact with the colonizers. With large amounts of minerals and other natural resources, the colonizers were able to adopt the practice of distributing large grants of land to the people. These people would then work the land (including any minerals contained therein), providing a revenue stream for the owner of the land. This was made possible in large part due to similar practices in the indigenous cultures (e.g. Incan "utopia" that provided families with land to be worked for the emperor). Due to the nature of land ownership, inequality was also severe in these colonies - and laws and institutions were established to ensure that the elites were able to maintain their wealth and status. The third and final path are those located in the north of Northern America, what is now Canada and the US. Due to the limited native populations providing labor, the settlers themselves were often the laborers. Equal distributions of wealth were encouraged, and most adult men were able to act as their own proprietors due to low capital requirements and abundant land. While the South did provide instances of slavery, compared to the sugar-based colonies of the Caribbean, the South still saw relatively modest sized plantations. These levels of equality encouraged institutions that safeguarded the rights of the normal man, things like property rights and limiting the power of the elites were emphasized. These three colonial pathways are extremely similar to those that we learned about at the beginning of the semester. The only difference is that this reading uses the example of northern North America instead of Argentina to demonstrate the settler colonies. This reading focuses more heavily on the development of institutions as well.

Example of Discretionary use of funds

The government stops buying advertisements on your television station after you broadcast a story about bribery in the legislature

The initial collapse of Peru's party system happened when? What president was both the product of this collapse, and a key figure in deepening it?

The initial collapse occurred in the late 1980's and early 1990's. This made it easier for Alberto Fujimori to rise to power, later turning into an authoritarian. In essence, he governed without a political party and would create a new "personalistic" vehicle for nearly each election.

In terms of ethnicity, what do the majority of Costa Ricans identify as today? Is this what we would expect given its colonial path?

The majority of Costa Ricans identify as European or mixed (83.6%). This is similar to what I would expect given its colonial path. Given that the native population was largely killed off by the settlers, the settlers were left to their own resources, and lived in a somewhat egalitarian community.

According to the authors, what event marked the transition of the Evo Morales government from democracy to competitive authoritarianism? What were some of the specific groups that supported the Morales government in this transition?

The moment was when Morales's referendum was rejected by the public in 2016 and he was forced to send it instead to the Plurinational Constitutional Tribune (which was packed with supportive judges). By doing so, Morales erased term limits and over-rode the will of the voters. Some of the specific groups that supported the Morales government were the coca farmers, the MAS political party

What is the most common method (electoral rule) for choosing presidents in Latin America? Describe how it works.

The most common is a majority runoff. This election may involve more than two candidates, but to win the candidates are required to get more than 50% of the vote. If none of the candidates receive more than 50% of the vote, then a second election will be held. This second election will feature only the top two candidates from the previous election. Now that there are only two candidates, the one that gets the most votes will win the election, since by nature of a two-candidate election the winner will have more than 50% of the votes.

Which social welfare program impressed you the most, and why? Be specific about your description and explanation.

The most impressive example was "La Efectiva" in Mexico. Avila and his team passed out the ATM cards before the election even happened, which I am sure only helped to make his promises seem even more legitimate. The range of his promises was so large, covering everything from retirement funds to sports scholarships. To me, it is incredible how open politicians are when trying to win votes. He may not be paying them with money for their vote before, but he may as well be doing so.

Brazil represents a puzzle for political scientists who argue that the combination of presidentialism and multipartyism is bound to fail. Why is Brazil puzzling? Make sure to describe some of the evidence and to convey its significance.

The normal inferrence is that when there are more parties it will be more difficult for presidents to carry out their legislative agenda because they have to try and get support from even more different people. With more parties there is an even wider range of idealogies that make this difficult for the president. However, Brazilian presidents have seen large success in executing the legislative agenda, despite having one of the most fragmented party systems in the world. The author uses "the average level of discipline of the presidential coallition" as evidence that this presidential success is not a rare occurence, but quite the opposite. This average level of discipline is 85.6%, making a presidential defeat in roll-call votes a rare event instead (evidenced by a 78% success rate for executive bills). The author attributes this to the institutional variables in Brazil. For example, the executive branch has significant legislative power that allows the president to control resources upon which the legislators depend on for political survival.

When did Argentina pursue independence, and how well did this correspond to its colonial path? Explain by providing details about both.

The pursuit of independence began on May 245, 1810 and was finished on July 9, 1816. This seems to fit the colonial path pretty well. The settler path indicates an earlier attempt at independence, which Argentina did follow. That being said, I would have expected a larger gap between the settler colonial path and the indigenous path - Mexico (following the indigenous path) was fighting for their independence at the same time, but took longer to finish the fight.

How has this violence varied within the LA region, both across time and across countries? How does it compare to global averages?

The region has sustained globally high levels of homicides but sees differences within the region. Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Peru and Uruguay are low, even comparable to or lower than the US. From there, there is a medium level of homicide before arriving to the higher level. Venezuela and Brazil are in the higher level, with Mexico beginning to reach it as well after 2007. These intermediate levels of homicide rates are still higher than the global average. Extremely high levels of homicide are found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Colombia. Over time there is also a great deal of variation. If homicide rates vary by less than 10 points of a 17-year period, the country's rates are considered relatively stable. 13 countries are considered stable in this regard. There is relative instability in 6 countries, with a notable decline in Colombia. El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Venezuela have seen significant fluctuations.

Why was Costa Rica regarded as "the poorest and most miserable [province] in all America"? Answer in a few sentences.

The settlement was established much later than the rest of Central America, taking nearly 60 years to do so. The area lacked both minerals and an indigenous population to work. Costa Rica was thus characterized by its lack of minerals and its inability to produce something worth exporting, which lead to widespread poverty.

What is the goal of the SNTE in Mexico? Have they been successful?

This labor union protects the rights of teachers in Mexico. They have seen mixed results. The reading gives an example of when the SNTE lost its battle and had to allow for teacher evaluations, regardless of tenure. However, more recently, the SNTE showed their power by pulling every teacher in the state of Zacatecas out of school for a protest. This resulted in the SNTE's objectives being accomplished as the government had no choice but to cede to them. So, in more recent years, they have been successful.

An interesting feature of Mexico's lower chamber (House of Deputies) is that no party may have more than 300 representatives Why is this rule in place?

This restriction prevents any party from reaching the qualified majority needed to approve constitutional reforms by itself.

What became Bolivia's most important export in the early twentieth century? What is Bolivia's most important export today?

Tin was the most important export of the early twentieth century. Petroleum gas is the most important export today.

According to modernization theory, how is traditional society related to development?

Traditional societies are both an expression and an obstacle to the development of democracy. To enter democracy, societies must overcome the traditional norms and structures.

What are transparency policies? Give an example of one from Latin America.

Transparency policies are those policies that allow the public to monitor the activity of public officials. This in turn reduces the opportunities that officials have to engage in corrupt acts. In 2015, Mexico introduced their "General Transparency and Access to Information Law" which standardized access to information at both the federal and state levels. This law also required more entities to provide information, increased the level of record-keeping and limited the ability of officials to deny acccess of information to the public.

Mexico is one of the most visited countries in the world.

True

Nayib Bukele's party Nuevas Ideas leans conservative and is in favor of market-based economic policies.

True

T/F Although many Cubans descend from the indigenous Taino and black Africans, today most of the population is officially described as white. (We will discuss this mystery in class.)

True

T/F Argentina encouraged very high levels of European immigration in the mid- to late-1800s.

True

T/F Close relatives of the former president are not able to be elected as their successor.

True

T/F Contra Linz, studies have shown that presidential systems often have governing coalitions.

True

T/F During colonization, the massive decline in the indigenous population of the Americas was mostly due to Spanish/Portuguese efforts to eliminate the native population.

True

T/F El Salvador's poverty and its reliance on coffee production are insufficient explanations for the persistence of authoritarian government in the twentieth century. Latin American countries with similar levels of economic development and similar levels of coffee production managed to have greater levels of democratic experience.

True

T/F Especially compared to the rest of the world, compulsory voting is prevalent in Latin America.

True

T/F Guatemala's generally low level of voter turnout is even lower among women.

True

T/F In recent years, Latin American legislatures have increased both their autonomy and effectiveness.

True

T/F In terms of absolute size, Guatemala has the largest economy of any Central American nation.

True

T/F Latin American countries have struggled to reform police forces and eliminate corruption in this area.

True

T/F Media freedom in Latin American has generally improved in recent years.

True

T/F Mexico City is the largest city in North America.

True

T/F President Jair Bolsonaro is a former military officer.

True

T/F Scholars generally have a few explanations for why presidents are removed from office more in some Latin American countries than others ("presidential interruptions"), but one clear pattern is that this phenomenon has gone up in recent years, while the number of military coups has gone down.

True

T/F Secret ballots were finally implemented in all Latin American countries by the mid-twentieth century.

True

Garay argues that the evidence supports her overall theory--that the demands of social movements were crucial to the creation of these kinds of social policies in Argentina. In a good paragraph, recount some of her most important evidence.

Unemployed workers were able to forge alliances with the labor unions, creating powerful SMCs. The first waves of social mobilization caused incumbent candidates to provide some form of social policy reforms and better distribution of resources. Early on these mobilizations were small, but they quickly grew over the years. As they grew nation-wide, they were able to make more announcements, but were ineffective in implementation. Competitive elections were key to social benefits being rolled out. Candidates hoped to gain favor among the social mobilization coalitions, and so they promised and provided these programs. The unprecedented provision of income transfers was one of the many programs attributed to the pressures exerted by the SMCs.

Which three Latin American countries are generally ranked as having the least corruption?

Uruguay, Chile, and Costa Rica

Which Latin American country is generally ranked as having the most corruption?

Venezuela

Who: Los Kjarkas (Peru)

Very famous Bolivian folk music ensemble.

I won't ask you to review all of Trejo and Ley's quantitative test, but at least tell us in which parts of the country the violence first started and where it went to next.

Violence started along the northwest border of Mexico, but then spread to the northeast as well - before ending in the west. There it grew to involve the six major Mexican drug cartels.

Latin America still struggles to ensure the right to life and liberty. Why is that?

Violent crime and assassinations/disappearance are common in several countries

In a plurality system, which candidate wins the seat?

Voters choose one candidate from among those running in the district, and the candidate that receives the greatest number of votes. This is sometimes referenced as "first past the post."

What is a roll-call vote, and what is the Rice Index?

When a bill, resolution, or other decisions are passed in congress they require a vote. Many of these votes are recorded. The recorded votes are known as roll-call votes. The Rice Index is a measure of party unity. It does so by measuring the proportion of legislators that side with the majority of their party. It goes from 0 to 100, with 0 showing a 50-50 split and 100 indicating perfect unanimity in the party.

What is Yashar's research question or the puzzle she is trying to solve? While you should state the question in a sentence, you should go on to explain in your own words what makes it puzzling.

Why did the indigenous populations of Latin American countries begin to organize and protest for civil rights more frequently toward the end of the 20th century when they had previously avoided confrontation for the large part? Yashar mentions that ethnic cleavages were somewhat weak before the last 30 years of the 20th century, yet the indigenous populations still had plenty of opportunities and reasons to protest. She asks why did they begin protesting then and not before - and why did some ethnic groups protest while others did not?

Who: Vicente Fernández (Mexico)

World-famous artist of ranchera music

Example of Desacato

You are sentenced to 10 years in prison for publishing an editorial cartoon that made fun of a Supreme Court justice

Example of Libel

You are sued for publishing untrue information about a public official that resulted in harm to his family

Who: Juan Santamaria (Costa Rica)

Young hero of the Second Battle of Rivas. Successfully carried a military operation that resulted in an important victory for the Costa Rican military but did not survive the injuries sustained on the mission.

Who: Last king of a quilombo, considered a hero for his resistance to slavery

Zumbi dos Palmares