PSC 245 - Populisms in Latin America & Beyond

Course Units: 1

(Fall; Seri) Leadership and politics in Latin America are often characterized as populist, but there is widespread disagreement as to what populism is. Claimed by no one, most of the time populism is blamed, disapprovingly, upon leaders and movements connoting demagoguery, manipulative appeals to people’s emotions and disregard for formal institutions and rules. Interestingly, a similar characterization of populism has recently entered politics in countries such as France or the U.S. With a main focus on Latin America, extending the discussion outside the region, this course scrutinizes three different “populist moments,” from the first half of the 20th century to the present. Major figures such as Peron or Vargas; neoliberal reformers from the 1990s, from Fujimori to Menem, and recent Latin American leaders, from Chávez, to Fernandez de Kirchner, plus a few salient cases from outside the region (e.g. Trump, Le Pen) will be examined in the class.