POL S0I 185 Chaney
MIDTERM EXAMIINATION- October 28, 1970

Answer five or six questions as time permits. Question 5 must be
answered.
1. For a long time Latin American economists as well as reformist
politicians -- along with outside analysts, for example, the
administrators of U.S. foreign aid programs looked to the ris-
ing "middle sectors" in Latin America to be the "engine" of develop-
ment and the key to building democratic political systems As of
1970, to what extent has this expectation been vindicated? Give
evidence for your answer.
2. What do we mean by a socio-economic system based upon ascriptive-
particularistic norms? To what contrasting societal norms are
these always compared? What are the implications for development
of a society which assigns roles, status, goods and political posi-
tion primarily according to ascriptive-particularisti criteria?
3. What tasks does the political system perform in any society? Does
the role of government, one of the major components of the politi-
cal system, tend to be greater or lesser in Latin American countries
than in the U.So or Western Europe? In what ways? Why?
4. Why has the industrial sector of most Latin American countries
remained weak and comparatively backward?
50 Using any objective criteria of development you wish (specify the
indices you are employing), classify all 20 Latin American coun-
tries into three categories: (a) those with dual social and econo-
mic structures; (b) those with predominantly archaic structures;
(c) those with homogeneous social and economic structures, and (d)
the exceptions. If you don't like lambert's classification scheme,
devise a three-category scheme of your own to indicate low, inter-
mediate and high leve3 of economic and social development.
6. Is the so-called population explosion a help or a hindrance for
Latin American development? In what ways?
7. It has been said that the high degree of urbanization in some
Latin American countries may be "premature." Agree or disagree
with this observation, and give reasons for your answer (using
some of the arguments from Horowitz and Andre Gunder Frank if you
can).
8. What factors outside the traditional agricultural sector are
bringing about pressures for change among the campesinos who still
form the largest population group in many Latin American countries?
9. "In Latin America," Arnold Toynbee maintains, "agrarian reform is
the necessary starting point for political, economic and social
change alike What evidence can you oite that change in the land
tenure system based upon the institution known as latifuna is
the key to structural reform in many Latin American countries?
10. Explain why a review of Latin American constitutions, analysis of
the structure of various governmental institutions and a study of
the electoral system in Latin America wouldwould not be an ade-
quate basis for learning about the Latin Arerican political process.


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