Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL3180: Latin American Parties, Politics and Elections

This module descriptor refers to the 2022/3 academic year.

Module Aims

Besides serving as an introduction for those of you who are unfamiliar with the history, politics, and socio-economic structure of the region, the course seeks to expose you to relevant topics, problems and current debates regarding Latin American politics and to encourage you to think critically about some of the most important challenges faced by democracies in the region.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills	1. participate in informed discussions about the political history of Latin America; 2. critically evaluate current political developments in the region; 3. critically analyse concepts and contexts of Latin American politics; 4. identify common trends as well as differences between Latin American democracies;
Discipline-Specific Skills	5. identify and discuss key concepts in the literature on democracy, democratisation and democratic quality, applying them to empirical case studies; 6. critically assess whether - and to what extent - theoretical arguments and methodological approaches used to analyse Western democracies can be extrapolated to other political contexts; 7. use and analyse a range of sources and materials commonly employed in political science research, including historical studies, public opinion data and news sources;
Personal and Key Skills	8. convey ideas precisely and concisely, both orally and in writing; 9. present and defend your work in an effective and convincing manner in front of an audience; 10. work independently and with peers to achieve goals; 11. analyse and interpret empirical data.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

1) Introduction: Political Science and Latin American Studies

2) The historical path: major political developments, 1950 – 2012

3) The current "state" of democracy in in Latin America:

4) Political Institutions and Institutional Design in Latin America:

5) Parties, Politics and Elections

6) Latin America in the Global System:

7) Social Movements

8) Case Studies

9) Review Session

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
44	256	0

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities	44	Seminars led by the lecturer (22 weeks, x 2 hours each seminar).
Guided independent study	155	Reading and preparation for seminars and presentations
Guided independent study	55	Writing up 2 essays and a film review based on the topics/materials covered in class.
Guided independent study	46	Web-based activities preparation for seminars and presentations.

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

- ELE – http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/BBC News – Latin America & Caribbean: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world/latin_america/

- Latinamerica Press: http://www.lapress.org/

- MercoPress: http://en.mercopress.com/

- Buenos Aires Herald: http://www.buenosairesherald.com/

- LatinoBarometro: http://www.latinobarometro.org/latino/latinobarometro.jsp

- Latin American Public Opinion Project: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/lapop/

Other Learning Resources

Videos: The Battle of Chile, Missing, State of Siege, Castro, Evita, The Revolution will not be

Televised, Our Brand is In Crisis, South of the Border, Even the Rain, Cuba Va: The

Challenge of the Next Generation