Latin American Politics: An Introduction, Second Edition
© 2017
Product Details
- World Rights
- Page Count: 416 pages
- Dimensions: 7.5in x 1.0in x 9.0in
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Reviews
In this updated edition, Close continues to make analysis the focus of the book, offering students an important way to study the evolution of politics in Latin America. Organized around political actors and dynamics rather than cases, the book allows students to see patterns across cases and shifts over time. For students of comparative politics, this book is an invaluable tool for understanding Latin American politics.
Julie Mazzei, Kent State University
Close has written an up-to-date and well-rounded textbook that will critically engage students of Latin American politics. Each chapter covers a broad theme that cuts across time and space. Prologues open the chapters with captivating discussions of related topics. Individual cases are discussed within thematic chapters, allowing students to examine specific events in light of theoretical approaches and regional patterns. This has been my favorite textbook of Latin American politics for years.
Felipe Amin Filomeno, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Latin American Politics makes a significant contribution to the relevancy of Latin American politics by focusing on select topics that are pertinent to the continent as a whole, rather than examining each of the region's countries in isolation.
Nibaldo Galleguillos, McMaster University
The lucky students who, through this book, are introduced to the study of politics and power in Latin America, will learn not only about Latin American political history, culture, processes, and institutions, but also about their own political history and traditions. David Close uses Latin America as a mirror that Canadian and American students can use to better understand the nature of their own domestic politics, as well as the politics of other countries outside Latin America. He achieves this feat by combining two approaches: area studies to capture the historical specificity of Latin America, and conceptual comparative politics to develop an understanding of similarities and differences between Latin America and other regions of the world.
Andrés Pérez-Baltodano, Western University -
Author Information
David Close is Professor of Political Science at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He is the author or co-author of several books, including Politics, Power, and the Common Good: An Introduction to Political Science, Fifth Edition (2017) and Nicaragua: Navigating the Politics of Democracy (2016). -
Table of contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
List of Acronyms
Map
1. Why Study Latin America?
2. Why History Matters
3. Latin America’s Historic Power Elites
4. Political Traditions, Political Legacies, and Political Institutions: How Personal Rule and Political Violence Figure in Modern Latin American Politics
5. Political Institutions and the Machinery of Government
6. Parties, Elections, and Movements
7. Unconstitutional Political Change: Coups, Insurgencies, and Revolutions as Contentious Politics
8. Democracy and Democratization
9. Political Economy and Economic Policy in Latin America
10. Latin American International Relations
11. Latin America in Comparative Perspective
Bibliography
Index
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Subjects and Courses