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Past and Present Trends in Research on Latin American Politics, 1950-1980

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 October 2022

David W. Dent
David W. Dent*
Affiliation:
Towson State University
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It has been almost two decades since trends in research on Latin American politics were measured in any systematic way. The early profile of the state of Latin American research in political science developed by Peter Ranis showed that Mexico, Brazil, and Chile “receive about one-third of all political science research attention.” Less than 1 percent of political science research was devoted to Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti, and Nicaragua. The subjects that received the most attention in the 1960s were interest groups (the military, students, and the church), the history of political institutions, and the nature of political, economic, and social change.

Type
Research Reports and Notes
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , 1986 , pp. 139 - 151
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 by the University of Texas Press

Footnotes

*

This paper was originally presented at the Eleventh International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, 29 September-1 October 1983, in Mexico City, and was revised for the Southwestern Political Science Association meeting 20-23 March 1985 in Houston, Texas. I would like to acknowledge the financial support of Towson State University, the research assistance of Brandt Kamka, and the helpful comments of the three anonymous LARR reviewers.

References

Notes

1. Peter Ranis, “Trends in Research on Latin American Politics: 1961-67,” LARR 3, no. 3 (1967):71-78.

2. Ibid., 72.

3. Ibid.

4. Merle Kling, “The State of Research on Latin America: Political Science,” in Social Science Research on Latin America, edited by Charles Wagley (New York: Columbia University Press, 1964), 168.

5. Fernando Henrique Cardoso is a Brazilian associated with the Centro Brasileiro de Análise e Planejamento (CEBRAP) in Sao Paulo. Julio Cotler is a Peruvian associated with the Instituto de Estudios Peruanos (IEP) in Lima. Guillermo O'Donnell, an Argentine, was formerly associated with the Centro de Estudios de Estado y Sociedad (CEDES) in Buenos Aires and is currently with the Instituto Universitário de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro (IUPERJ) as well as the Kellogg Institute of International Studies at the University of Notre Dame.

6. For a comprehensive list of Latin American and Caribbean political research centers, see Abraham F. Lowenthal, “Research in Latin America and the Caribbean on International Relations and Foreign Policy: Some Impressions,” LARR 18, no. 1 (1983):154-74.

7. For Asia, see Carmelo Mesa-Lago, “Latin American Studies in Japan,” LARR 17, no. 3 (1982):173-92; Gustavo Andrade, S.J., “Latin American Studies in Japan,” LARR 8, no. 1 (1973):147-56; Fumio Nakagawa, “The Japanese Contribution to Latin American Studies,” LARR 17, no. 1 (1982):105-13; R. Narayanan, “Latin American Studies in India,” LARR 18, no. 3 (1983):179-84; and Mark Sidel, “Latin American Studies in the People's Republic of China,” LARR 18, no. 1 (1983):143-53. For Europe, see Volker Lühr, “Recent Research on Latin America in West Germany,” LARR 15, no. 2 (1980):262-68; David E. Stansfield, “The Study of Latin American Politics in British Universities,” LARR 9, no. 2 (1974):95-104; and Karl-Christian Goethner, “Research at GDR Universities in Latin America,” LARR 18, no. 3 (1983):165-78. For the Soviet Union, see Victor V. Vol'skii, “The Study of Latin America in the USSR,” LARR 3, no. 1 (1967):77-87; Cole Blasier, “The Soviet Latin Americanists,” LARR 16, no. 1 (1981):107-23; Joseph D. Barnard, “Recent Soviet Efforts in Latin American Studies,” LARR 14, no. 1 (1979):234-38; and Jerry F. Hough, “The Evolving Soviet Debate on Latin America,” LARR 16, no. 1 (1981):124-43.

8. Peter T. Johnson, “Bibliography: Current Practices and Future Trends,” LARR 18, no. 1 (1983):261.

9. The emphasis in this study of past and present trends is on internal politics in Latin America, including the Caribbean nations. But editorial policy changes in the preparation of the Handbook made it necessary to include some inter-American titles in the compilations. For example, starting with 1950 (Volume 22), the Handbook staff categorized constitutional and political affairs under the heading of “Government.” Then from 1961 (Volume 23) until 1971 (Volume 33), the internal political literature and international relations materials were categorized together under the heading “Government and International Relations.” This period (1961-71) also witnessed the Handbook's shift from an annual edition that included both the humanities and social sciences to an annual edition that covers the humanities one year and the social sciences the next, continuing in alternation. From 1973 (Volume 35) on, the Handbook has categorized internal political literature under the heading of “Government and Politics,” with subheadings that distinguish between a general category and various subregional categories.

10. Henry C. Kenski, “Teaching Latin American Politics at American Universities: A Survey,” LARR 10, no. 1 (1975):91.

11. Ranis, “Trends in Research,” 72.

12. Charles W. Anderson, Politics and Economic Change in Latin America (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Van Nostrand, 1967).

13. Albert O. Hirschman, Journeys toward Progress: Studies of Economic Policy-Making in Latin America (New York: Twentieth-Century Fund, 1963).

14. Gary W. Wynia, The Politics of Latin American Development (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978).

15. Pedro-Pablo Kuczynski, Peruvian Democracy under Economic Stress: An Account of the Belaúnde Administration, 1963-68 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1977).

16. Enrique A. Baloyra and John D. Martz, Political Attitudes in Venezuela: Societal Cleavages and Political Opinion (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1979).

17. Philip B. Taylor, Jr., “South America: East Coast,” Handbook of Latin American Studies 41 (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1979), 517.