POL 4492 is also offered in Fall 2024
POL 4492 is also offered in Fall 2022
Fall 2024 | POL 4492 Section 001: Law and (In)Justice in Latin America (32376)
- Instructor(s)
- Class Component:
- Lecture
- Credits:
- 3 Credits
- Grading Basis:
- Student Option
- Instructor Consent:
- No Special Consent Required
- Instruction Mode:
- In Person
- Meets With:
POL 5492 Section 001
- Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
Tue,
Thu 02:30PM - 03:45PM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 220
- Enrollment Status:
Closed (20 of 20 seats filled)
- Also Offered:
- Course Catalog Description:
- This course examines, from various angles, how law and justice function in contemporary Latin America, highlighting similarities and differences within and between countries and issue areas. Students reflect on and debate the causes behind the varied outcomes, as well as the effectiveness, actual and potential, of the different institutional and social change efforts that have been underway in the region since the 1980s. Specific topics addressed include accountability for past and present mass violence; origins of and responses to crime, from "mano dura" policies to criminal justice reform and anti-corruption initiatives; and advances and limitations in equal rights protection. Special attention is paid across the course to issues of indigeneity, race, class, gender, and sexuality. Throughout, students compare situations within Latin America, which is by no means a monolith, as well as consider parallels between Latin America and the United States, where, despite great differences in wealth, history and culture, similar problems of law and justice can be found. The course aims thus not only to teach students about Latin America but also to get students to think about what we might learn from Latin America.
- Class Notes:
- http://classinfo.umn.edu/?POL4492+Fall2024
- Class Description:
- Although democracy is the dominant form of government in Latin America today, most Latin American countries still suffer from a weak rule of law. Across the region, free and fair elections are held on a regular basis and few formal barriers to participation exist, but most countries are still a long way from offering full citizenship rights for all. Even in some of the largest and most economically developed cases, governments are often ineffective at providing basic rights protection, and state officials can abuse their power with impunity. Legal and judicial institutions are often partisan, corrupt, and/or inaccessible, leaving average citizens with no real recourse when their rights are violated. This course will examine, from various angles, how law and justice function in contemporary Latin America, highlighting similarities and differences within and between countries and issue areas. Students will reflect on and debate the causes behind the varied outcomes, as well as the effectiveness, actual and potential, of the different reform efforts that have been underway in the region since the 1980s. Specific topics to be addressed are transitional justice, judicial review, judicial independence, access to justice, criminal justice (including police, courts, and prisons), corruption, and non-state alternatives. Special attention will be paid to issues of race/ethnicity, class, and gender, as well as to what general lessons, if any, can be drawn from analyses of Latin American cases.
- Grading:
- 25% Quizzes
30% Reports/Papers (individual)
10% Group project
20% In-class Presentations (small group)
15% Participation (in-class or online discussion boards)
- Class Format:
- 40% Lecture
35% Discussion and Student Presentations
25% Small Group Activities
- Workload:
- 100 Pages Reading Per Week
Up to 10 Pages Writing Per Term (4492)
or up to 20 Pages Writng Per Term (5492)
- Textbooks:
- https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/32376/1249
- Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
- 29 April 2022
ClassInfo Links - Fall 2024 Political Science Classes