February 2009 Archives

Apologies if comments remained in limbo the past few days. I’ve been visiting friends in Carlisle, PA (and it’s been great seeing everyone so far!), and I only just now had a chance to catch up w/ comments that needed approval.

But next week is my spring break. So expect some updates about Bolivian politics, some personal news, photos of Javi (who grows at an amazing rate!), and other miscellany. All the while MABB & I work on a co-authored paper (for the April MPSA conference) on socioeconomic determinants of voting in Bolivia from 2005-2009.

A reader sent along this idea: 12 “required” books for science majors (via Pleiotropy). That spurred me to make a quick list of 12 “required” books for political science majors.

There’s a new meme going around the interweb (mostly on Facebook) asking people to post a list of the 25 albums that are “most influential” to them. That’s a tall order, and I’m not sure I did the task justice.

I just got back from a short mini conference at American University on various issues involving multiculturalism in democracies.

Last weekend, I attended the APSA Teaching & Learning Conference in Baltimore. I was on the Core Curriculum & General Education track, which included about 30 faculty. Most of the participants also presented a paper. We met as a group over three days, discussing each other’s work & sharing ideas about political science education. However, I’m not sure we ever really addressed the question of what role political science should play in a “core curriculum.” I’ve been thinking a lot about this over the past several days.

Despite its fanfare, Bolivia’s new constitution (CPE) actually introduces only limited changes to the basic structure of Bolivia’s political system. Yes, the new CPE approved by voters a few weeks ago continues the tradition (since the 1994 CPE) of multiculturalism, participation, and decentralization. Here, however, I want to focus on the few minor changes to the legislature.

I decided to finally use my Tumblr account. I’ve started a blog devoted exclusively to teaching (comparative) politics. It’s nothing but little ideas that I’ve used in class or would like to use in a class, as well as just stuff I run across that would be cool for some class-related purpose or other. If nothing else, it’ll serve as a storehouse for my ideas.

Because I was at a conference all weekend, I didn’t get to post about today’s proclamation of Bolivia’s new constitution (though I did Twitter about it). I’ll have more later, particularly as I’m interested in these issues: 1) the implications for a newly redesigned legislature on the electoral system; 2) the implications of the various new “autonomies” on state-local relations (and Bolivia’s new “federacy”); 3) the internal party re-alignments that will take place as political actors look to the December 2009 elections under the new constitution; and 4) how does Evo’s foreign policy now shift now that the major element of his domestic agenda (a new constitution) is taken care of.

I’m attending the APSA Teaching & Learning Conference this weekend in Baltimore. This’ll be my first foray into a pedagological conference, so I’m a bit nervous. I certainly hope to gain some insights to improve my teaching in the future.

For the past week, following voters’ approval of the new constitution (as well as the reduction of maximum land ownership from 10,000 to 5,000 hectares), members of Bolivia’s Landless Movement (MST, Movimiento Sin Tierra) began occupying lands throughout Bolivia, concentrated in Santa Cruz. Some of the occupied lands, however, were owned by the state hydrocarbons company (YPFB). The result has been increased tension as regional opposition leaders who criticize the government for giving MST “license” to seize lands, and MST leaders criticize Evo’s MAS government for not moving quickly enough to meet their demands. In the end, Evo has chosen to crack down on MST by ordering the arrest three of the group’s leaders, including Valerio Queso.

Queso may be vaguely familiar to many around the world. The man looks very much like Evo, and actually played the Bolivian president in a recent film biopic, Evo Pueblo.

If you’re looking to get your Bolivia news & updates fix, check out Red Bolivia. I’ve only glanced at it quickly, but so far it looks like it contains a great deal of information about Bolivia & global issues from a “Bolivian perspective.”