Listed in: Political Science, as POSC-51
Javier Corrales (Section 01)
[CP, IR] This is a modified version of Political Science 32, The Political Economy of Development. The first half of the course is identical to 32, but the second half will have a different focus: the political economy of oil. This section will explore the extent to which oil is a “resource curse,” the neo-structuralist notion that an abundance of a natural resource, in this case oil, is detrimental for development because it distorts economic incentives (away from diversification) and distorts politics (by facilitating corruption, raising the stakes of power-holding, increasing the chance for abuse of state power, and weakening society’s capacity to hold the state accountable). We will examine these hypotheses by focusing on Venezuela, one of the world’s leading oil producers. Until the 1980s, Venezuela was considered an example of democratization. In the 1990s, Venezuela became instead a paradigmatic case of policy incoherence. In the early 2000s, under the Hugo Chávez administration, Venezuela became a case of political polarization, and some argue, rising authoritarianism. The second half of this course will assess whether the resource-curse theory provides the best account of Venezuela’s politics since the 1980s. To address this question, we will: (1) compare the resource-curse argument with other competing theories of development that might account for Venezuelan politics; and (2) compare the Venezuelan case with other cases in Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. This course fulfills requirements for the Five College Certificates in Latin American Studies and International Relations.
Not open to students who have taken Political Science 32. Limited to 35 students. Spring semester. Professor Corrales.
Section 01
Tu 08:30 AM - 09:50 AM MERR 2
Th 08:30 AM - 09:50 AM MERR 2
| ISBN | Title | Publisher | Author(s) | Comment | Book Store | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Presidents Without Parties: The Politics of Economic Reform in Argentina and Venezuela in the 1990s | Penn State University Press | Corrales, Javier | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| Dragon in the Tropics: Hugo Chavez and the Political Economy of Revolution in Venezuela | Brookings Institution Press | Corrales & Penfold | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics | MIT Press | Easterly, William | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| International Political Economy: State-Market Relations in a Changing Global Order | Lynne Rienner Pub | Goddard, Cronin, & Dash eds. | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It | Collier, Paul | Oxford University Press | Amherst Books | TBD |
These books are available locally at Amherst Books.