State, Government and Democracy
SPECIALIZATION AND INTERNATIONAL COURSE STATE, GOVERNMENT AND DEMOCRACY
1th Cohort (2019-2020)
MODE: VIRTUAL
General coordination:
Juan Carlos Monedero (Complutense University of Madrid, Spain)
John Mill Ackerman (Institute of Legal Research, National Autonomous University of Mexico)
Specialization: 52 credits, 480 lecture hours | International Course: 12 credits, 120 lecture hours
Duration: April 2019 to March 2020
The accreditation and certification of the Specialization and the International Course will be carried out by the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO) and by the Complutense Institute of International Studies (ICEI).
FOUNDATION
Political science is an integrative science and, as such, achieves its objectives by combining different disciplines: history, economics, philosophy, law, statistics, communication, and more. It aims to construct a science of power as a means of managing conflict. Therefore, it is a science of institutions, especially the State, since it is the most powerful machine for building obedience. Examining the State, power, and government from the perspective of political science helps us understand why we obey and, from the perspective of institutions, how they are managed to guarantee the authorization granted by citizens. In contemporary democratic societies, it is impossible to account for power without understanding electoral processes and the role of the various actors that determine them: political parties, media, social networks, big data, lobbies, pressure groups, and so on. The political science perspective reveals the power structures hidden within the State, which are expressed in its biases. Similarly, it analyzes the possibilities of democratic government in a globalized world under the hegemony of financial capital and in societies saturated with audiovisual media. Only with the right tools is it possible to identify that power and question it about its objectives.
OBJECTIVE
The specialization and international course in State, Government, and Democracy is designed to offer a comprehensive space for theoretical and practical training, where the tools related to power in all its manifestations are explored. This includes the spaces where power operates—which include the domestic sphere, the international arena, the street, the factory, and, of course, the state level—as well as the ways of obtaining and maintaining it, the quality of democracy, social anomie, democratic commitment, and political prospects in our societies during times of crisis of liberal democracy and the neoliberal economy.
RECIPIENTS
The specialization and international course are aimed at undergraduate and postgraduate students; teachers at all levels; activists and members of trade unions, social movements and political parties; public officials; press workers; members and managers of non-governmental organizations and professionals interested in social issues.
PROFESSORS
ACADEMIC STRUCTURE
The specialization in State, government and democracy will last one year and requires for its accreditation the completion of: an international course and two optional virtual seminars from the curriculum; a methodological workshop; and the preparation of a final monograph.
The international course will last one year and requires, for its accreditation, the completion and approval of a final project, in addition to participation in at least 75% of the activities and tasks proposed by the teachers.
The specialization and international course will take place between April 2019 and March 2020.
Students in the specialization and international course will have the support of academic tutors who will accompany them through the virtual seminars and guide them in completing their final projects.
Once the seminars have concluded, students will have four months to submit their final project. If they still need to complete a credit, they will also have four months to do so.
The specialization and the international course are certified by CLACSO.
The specialization certifies 480 hours/chair of work; the international course 120 hours/chair.
CURRICULUM OFFER
The online seminars will be offered in Spanish, Portuguese, and English. Similarly, the course materials may be provided in all three official languages. Student contributions to the discussion forums may also be in these languages. The final research paper may be written in Spanish, Portuguese, or English.
MANDATORY SEMINAR
International Course: State, Government and Democracy: Democratic Quality in the Era of Globalization, Social Networks and the Emergence of New Political Subjects
Summary: In a world in transition, we need sound diagnoses. The failure of economics to predict and resolve the 2007 crisis compels the social sciences to adopt a critical perspective to avoid repeating past mistakes. In this diagnosis, we need to analyze what neoliberalism is and how it has become common sense. Trump, Erdogan, Salvini, Bolsonaro, and Macri are embodiments of the crisis of liberal democracy. For this very reason, we must analyze what is happening to the state at all levels. It is not true that the state has disappeared; rather, it has mutated, becoming devoid of its democratic commitment and increasingly serving the interests of powerful minorities (which even leads to the promotion of wars). It is also essential to examine new social actors and their transformations linked to new technologies.
The conflict of the 21st century will be marked by a likely cold war between China and the United States, framed by worsening climate change, which also necessitates an updated geopolitical reflection. The final question is challenging: what changes does democracy need in the 21st century to halt its decline? What proposals go beyond defensive positions? Is democracy even possible in a globalized world under the hegemony of financial capital?
- Presentation: Challenges of democratic government in the crisis of neoliberalism and liberal democracy (Juan Carlos Monedero)
- The hollowing out of democracy (Boaventura de Sousa Santos).
- The crisis of liberal democracy (Manuel Castells).
- State and hegemony in neoliberalism: diagnosis and challenges (Bob Jessop)
- The commons as a means of rebuilding democracy. (María Eugenia Rodríguez Palop)
- Democracy from a decolonial perspective (Esther del Campo)
- Militarization, war and democracy: geopolitics of the 21st century (Ana Esther Ceceña)
- Feminist critique of economics (Amaia Pérez Orozco)
- The overflow of the State: feminism and empowered participatory governance (Laura Gómez).
- The institutional geography of power in the 21st century (Pablo Iglesias)
- The Anthropocene versus Democracy (Yayo Herrero)
- Lawfare as a strategy of the new right (Matías Bailone)
- China's role in Latin America (Rafael Poch)
- Conclusions: reinventing democracy (Juan Carlos Monedero)
OPTIONAL SEMINARS
First semester
Summary: In the 1980s, discussions about the role of the state in what was beginning to take shape as neoliberalism gave rise to insightful proposals such as that of Nikos Poulantzas, who defined the state as “a social relation.” This definition broke with liberalism, for which the state, following Weber's line of thought, was a neutral sphere, and also went beyond those who understood the state as a tool of the bourgeoisie and, therefore, useless in terms of emancipation. It also emphasized that the state was not a clean instrument that could be used by whichever social class seized control of it. But the truth is that neoliberalism, while imposing itself through what Gramsci called the “extended state” (church, pressure groups, media, entertainment industry), achieved its greatest advances through control of the state apparatus. This was the case from the 1973 coup against the government of Salvador Allende onward. How does the state operate today? Is it still true that left-wing governments win the presidency but not the power? Can the quality of democracy be measured? Is there a non-state public sector? Is the separation of powers still valid in the current party-based state?
Second semester
Summary: Having passed the progressive cycle that began with Hugo Chávez's victory in Venezuela in 1998, we now face the challenge of determining how much of what was achieved during this period will be retained, what will be lost, and what emancipatory elements can be gained in the new cycle. This seminar will review the mistakes of left-wing governments and the elements upon which the right has rebuilt itself. The clash between the United States and China will likely unfold as a cold war played out in Latin America. International integration, access to new technologies, the rise of social media, and the crisis of liberal democracy are all taking place on a continent still marked by stark inequalities, enormous poverty rates, and pressure from the United States.
Summary: The seminar will present theories and concepts arising from the analysis of public policies and governance tools implemented in early 21st-century democratic governance experiences in Latin America. The second part of the seminar will feature lectures by former Latin American government officials, who will share concrete experiences and lessons learned from governance, with an emphasis on the political economy of the public policy cycle.
Summary: The process of hegemonic transition, US decline, and the rise of China raise a series of geopolitical, geostrategic, and geoeconomic questions. This seminar will be structured around the following question: How do the changes occurring in the capitalist world-system, in which the region has been embedded for half a millennium, affect Latin America and the Caribbean? The struggle between different power centers for Latin America and the Caribbean shapes states, governments, democracies, and recent processes of political coordination, cooperation, and regional integration. The Trump Administration is invoking the Monroe Doctrine and preparing to recover lost ground in what they contemptuously call their “backyard,” attempting to mitigate the growing Chinese and Russian presence and weaken regional organizations such as UNASUR, CELAC, and ALBA. What are the current challenges for states, governments, and democracies in developing a more autonomous Latin American international engagement and foreign policy, one less aligned with Washington?
WORKSHOP TO SUPPORT THE PREPARATION OF THE FINAL PROJECT
Summary: The methodology seminar is a training space intended to guide the preparation of the final monograph of the specialization course.
The instructor will guide students in developing their object of analysis, translating it into a viable research problem, constructing a work plan, developing argumentative frameworks, and establishing analytical conclusions. These tasks will be carried out individually and collectively through peer exchange and with the instructor in charge of the workshop, following a discussion forum format.
SCHEDULE
PAYMENT METHOD
To register, you will need to complete the digital form Available from November 19, 2018.
Full Members : If you belong to a CLACSO Full Member Center. Associate Members: If you belong to a CLACSO Associate Center. No affiliation : If you do NOT have any of these affiliations with CLACSO.
| One payment | Paying before 31/03 | Payment in 3 installments | |
| CM Plenos | $480 | $450 | USD 600 (3 x USD 200) |
| CM Associates | $640 | $600 | USD 810 (3 x USD 270) |
| No link | $800 | $750 | USD 1020 (3 x 340) |
Full Members : If you belong to a CLACSO Full Member Center. Associate Members: If you belong to a CLACSO Associate Center. No affiliation : If you do NOT have any of these affiliations with CLACSO.
| One payment | Paying before 31/03 | Payment in 3 installments | |
| CM Plenos | $150 | $135 | USD 210 (3 x USD 70) |
| CM Associates | $200 | $180 | USD 270 (3 x USD 90) |
| No link | $240 | $225 | USD 330 (3 x 110) |
The accreditation and certification of the Specialization and the International Course will be carried out by the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO) and by the Complutense Institute of International Studies (ICEI).
If the student has paid the full tuition, they may retake only one seminar in the following year's cohort. This rule does not apply to international courses. In all cases, the amount paid will not be refunded.
The Specialization certifies 480 hours/chair of work; the International Course 120 hours/chair.
For any other questions, please contact [email protected]
Return to the complete list of Specializations and International Courses
