Dictatorship & Democracy in Latin America

Some Tips for Writing the First Paper

The Topic: Write an essay which explains how one might approach the question of why dictatorships were so frequent in 19^th Century Latin America.

Remember, there are different types of dictatorship during the 19^th Century. Immediately after Independence there were a number of caudillos. Many caudillos had (or only wanted) regional power. By mid century the remaining caudillos generally had national power allied with Conservative forces: Conservative Dictatorships. By the 1870s Liberal opposition parties began achieving power and often, themselves, became dictatorships. So, regional and often “antipolitical” > national and conservative > national and liberal. Yet, despite these differences, there was a pattern of authoritarian rule. Why?

State your Thesis. Your thesis should briefly articulate your basic argument. It is not enough to observe that your discussion will include political, economic, and geographic (etc.) features. You must explain how all those aspects relate to your argument. Everyone will include some number of these features, but everyone (most likely) will have different ways of dealing with them.

In order to construct an argument, you will need to establish some type of framework that will help the reader to organize all these disparate factors. There are many ways you might do this. Virtually everyone has noted two important things: (1) there is frequent mention of “duality” in the literature, and (2) Latin American nations faced specific challenges as Independent nations. There are other relevant features that can be incorporated, but these two seem to show up in all the rough drafts that were submitted. Of course, the various authors (of the readings) located this duality in different aspects of Latin American society… so you need to consider how it might be possible to take the abstraction of duality and make it into a useful framework. Similarly, various authors emphasize different challenges.

Construct an Argument: Once you have identified what you consider to be the larger themes, you will need to outline your essay. The following strategies (based on categories discussed in class) may help you to organize your thoughts. You should, by the way, organize them according to the logic of your argument.

You might want to organize it according to a Causal Chronology: earliest causal strains first. In this case you might want to consider whether the points you want to make have roots that:

predate mankind (geographic features)

date back to pre-conquest ideas or social relations (as in the Thomistic vs. Machiavellian reading) or social and economic structures that pre-dated Independence.

are relatively immediate triggers such as the destruction caused by a war, or the character of an individual.

You might want to organize it according to Importance or an Order of Dependence. Lead up to what you believe is the most important or powerful point. Perhaps you believe that Economic factors ultimately determine World View or vice versa.

You might want to organize it “spatially.” There is an international system within which there is Latin America within which there is a nation within which there is an economy within which there are economic elites within which there exists an established order, etc. (That is just one example of how you might set up a Russian doll within a doll approach).

You might want to organize it according to an Historical Narrative: Independence created specific challenges that were, in certain places, met by Caudillos. They succeeded in meeting them because of X. These Caudillos generally did X, which had X general type of impact on society and economy. This impact, coupled with X developments, created new challenges. Conservatives rose to this challenge (because X), had an impact X (coupled with new developments that they didn’t necessarily have anything to do with) and a new challenge emerged. Liberals rose to meet the challenge… etc., etc.

There are a wide variety of organizational strategies. Find one that expresses your argument best. You will find that a clear organization will smooth your “transitions.” If you have ever had a professor tell you that your transitions are not clear, that is probably because you lost the thread of your argument.

Use the Readings: Use As Many As You Can. You may want to cite or quote an author as an authority. You may want to compare and contrast readings that have slight variations or irreconcilable arguments. You may want to note that two readings actually fit nicely together. You are welcome to use full footnotes but (Author, p.#) will suffice. You are not expected to use any sources outside of the assigned readings, but if you choose to do so, then you must supply a full citation.

Define Important Terms: Many terms that we use frequently have a general meaning known to most readers. However, many of them take on a specific meaning when discussing a complex issue like the one at hand. For instance, “middle class” might refer to occupations, income, vaguely held goals, etc., etc. Be specific. You do not need to define “dictatorship” unless you mean something more than “a regime in which power is held without popular consent in so far as it does not tolerate opposition.”

Conclude the Essay: There are a number of ways to conclude. The most obvious strategy is to consider the questions that your argument raises. Perhaps your essay suggests the most important questions that should be asked when considering authoritarian regimes: who has power, who wants it; OR what products does a regime promote, what is the foreign competition; OR what are the political traditions, what are the new trends; OR who has influence with the military, etc., etc. Perhaps your conclusion could raise questions about the 19^th century that have not been answered (or may not be possible to answer). What information do you think needs to be discovered in order to come to grips with 19^th Century Latin American political development? Perhaps you would prefer a thoughtful speculation about the dangers of comparing authoritarian regimes across time or national boundaries. Perhaps you could use the conclusion to suggest other applications of your framework. (Something like: “Thinking of authoritarian regimes as either premature attempts to take advantage of changes that have not yet happened or desperate attempts to resist changes that have already happened… leads me to wonder if maybe much of the modern world might not be understood in terms of a widespread belief that everything is constantly changing….”) In other words, use your conclusion to show the reader the value, not just the correctness, of your essay.

There are a great many good strategies for concluding a short essay. The one bad strategy is to repeat your thesis. Presumably your reader has already been persuaded by your clear argument and explication; repeating your thesis usually weakens, rather than strengthens the essay.

Title: It is not required that you title this assignment. I would prefer that you do. Think of a good title that sums up some key feature of your argument. It is a good exercise. (You don’t need to include a title page. Save a tree: put the title on the top of the first page.)

Proofreading: I will assume that all mechanical (grammar, syntax, spelling) errors are the result of simple sloppiness. If this is not the case, then you need to work on it. If I mark a paper (rough draft or final version) with things like “confusing” or “awkward” and you don’t understand what is wrong with the sentence, then come see me.