Effectively organizing and teaching an introductory course on Latin American politics is virtually impossible; writing a satisfactory textbook for such classroom use is equally difficult. Professor Duncan has undertaken the latter task and, on balance, meets the challenge well. His book is a general survey aimed at introducing students to the subject and, judged by that criterion, constitutes a useful contribution.
Confronted with the inevitable and unavoidable question of organizing his work on a topical or country-by-country basis, Duncan attempts both to have his cake and eat it. While the general thrust is topical—with major sections on Culture and Society, Political Patterns, Prime Development Problems, and the like—he also devotes one part to brief summaries of politics in the individual countries. These reviews are necessarily sketchy and superficial, yet have the value of providing the student with some background as a point of reference.
As the subtitle indicates, the treatment is set within a developmental framework. The discerning student will find that more questions are raised than answered, while developmentalists may criticize a lack of rigor. However, the author is sound in using its concepts as a means of ordering and presenting his material. Of particular note are chapters six and seven, dealing respectively with attitudes and values, and ethnicity and class. Such cultural facets of Latin American politics too often receive short shrift in textbooks, and their inclusion here is most welcome.
The major competition to Duncan’s book is the Williams and Wright text bearing the identical title. Theirs is a longer, more ambitious and more theoretically sophisticated work, one that I have found excellent for survey courses. But Duncan can also be used advantageously if supplemented with more specialized readings. It is concise, clear, and well written.
