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Gerardo L. Munck

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Gerardo L. Munck is a political scientist specializing in comparative politics. He is professor of political science and international relations at the University of Southern California.

Gerardo L. Munck
Born (1958-10-13) October 13, 1958 (age 66)
Buenos Aires, Argentina[1]
NationalityArgentine, American
Alma materUniversity of California, San Diego
Occupation(s)Professor, political scientist
Known forComparative politics

Career

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Munck earned his undergraduate degree in political science from the University of New Hampshire, a master's in Latin American studies at Stanford University, and his PhD in political science from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Munck was a professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign between 1990 and 2002, before moving to the University of Southern California (USC).[2] [3]

Academic research

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Munck works in the field of comparative politics specializing in political regimes, democracy, and methodology.[4] His recent work focuses on the relationship between democracy and state capacity,[5] on critical junctures,[6] and on politics in Latin America[7]

Munck is also known for his research in the field of the science of knowledge and his oral histories of leading scholars in political science and comparative politics.[8]

The conceptualization and measurement of democracy

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Munck's award winning article with Jay Verkuilen “Conceptualizing and Measuring Democracy" (2002) introduced a widely used distinction between issues of conceptualization, measurement, and aggregation.[9] In work with Jørgen Møller and Svend-Erik Skaaning (2020),[10] Munck elaborated this framework and argued that, "counter to an empiricist approach to measurement," attention should be placed "squarely on theoretical concepts" and "the link between theoretical concepts and measures."[11]

The state and democracy

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Munck, in his work with Sebastián Mazzuca, has advanced the argument that the process of state formation, and the resulting level of state capacity, affects the process of democratization as well as the quality of democracy. In A Middle-Quality Institutional Trap: Democracy and State Capacity in Latin America (2020), Mazzuca and Munck maintain that "States can make democracy and democracy can make States," but that they do so "only under certain macroconditions, which trigger the causal mechanisms that make the State–democracy interaction a virtuous cycle." They compare advanced democracies to Latin America and show that "in Latin America, the State–democracy interaction has not generated a virtuous cycle." They explain the poor quality of Latin American democracies in terms of various factors, including the legacy of state formation in the nineteenth century.[12]

Problems of and for democracy

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Munck's book Latin American Politics and Society: A Comparative and Historical Analysis (2022)[13] has been hailed as a "titanic enterprise that combines historical, cross-national, and case-specific knowledge with simple yet sharp analytical idea."[14] One of its overarching themes is the interaction between problems of democracy, "problems linked to the attainment, maintenance, and improvement of democracy," and problems for democracy, "problems regarding the development and strengthening of civil and social rights that citizens expect or hope democracies will deliver."[15] Munck argues that "problems of democracy have prevented the elimination of problems for democracy, and problems for democracy block the possibility of reducing problems of democracy."[16]

The evolution of Comparative Politics

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Munck offers the following periodization for the evolution of modern comparative politics, as a field of political science - understood as an academic discipline - in the United States:[17]

  • 1. The Constitution of Political Science as a Discipline, 1880–1920
  • 2. The Behavioral Revolution, 1921–66
  • 3. The Post-Behavioral Period, 1967–88
  • 4. The Second Scientific Revolution 1989–present

Munck also specifies several trends in the field since the turn of the century.[18]

  • End of the pretense of rational choice theory to hegemonize the field
  • Lack of a unifying metatheory
  • Greater attention to causal inference, and increased use of experimental methods.
  • Continued use of observation methods, including qualitative methods.
  • New concern with a "hegemony of methods" as theorizing is not given as much attention.

Work with International Organizations

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United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

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Munck collaborated with Dante Caputo and Guillermo O'Donnell in the preparation of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) report Democracy in Latin America. Toward a Citizens’ Democracy (2004).[19]

He also worked with Dante Caputo on a second regional report on democracy in Latin America prepared by the UNDP and the Organization of American States (OAS), Nuestra democracia (2010).[20]

With the UNDP, he elaborated a system to monitor corruption in Afghanistan,[21] and wrote background papers for the UNDP regional reports on Asia and the Pacific on corruption and gender equality.[22]

Organization of American States (OAS)

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Munck developed a methodology to monitor elections for the Organization of American States (OAS).[23]

Open Government Partnership (OGP)

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Munck was a member of the inaugural International Experts Panel of the Open Government Partnership.[24]

Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI)

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Munck was appointed as a member of the High-Level Expert Commission which supports the Human Rights, Democracy and Equality Program, of the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (OEI).[25] [26]

Personal life

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Munck's grandmother is swimmer Lilian Harrison. His brother is sociologist Ronaldo Munck.[27]

Selected publications

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Books and Edited Volumes

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El pensamiento sociopolítico latinoamericano: Ciencias sociales e intelectuales en tiempos cambiantes (with Martín Tanaka; Prometeo, 2023)

Latin American Politics and Society: A Comparative and Historical Analysis (with J.P. Luna; Cambridge University Press, 2022).

Critical Junctures and Historical Legacies: Insights and Methods for Comparative Social Science, co-editor with David Collier (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022).

A Middle-Quality Institutional Trap: Democracy and State Capacity in Latin America (with Sebastián L. Mazzuca; Cambridge University Press, 2020).

La calidad de la democracia: Perspectivas desde América Latina, co-editor with Sebastián Mantilla Baca (Quito, Ecuador: CELAEP and Fundación Hans Seidel, 2013). [15]

Measuring Democracy: A Bridge between Scholarship and Politics (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009).

Passion, Craft, and Method in Comparative Politics (with Richard Snyder; Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007).

Regimes and Democracy in Latin America, editor (Oxford University Press, 2007).

“Regimes and Democracy in Latin America”, co-editor with David Collier. Special Issue of Studies in Comparative International Development 36, 1 (Spring 2001): 3–141. [16]

Authoritarianism and Democratization: Soldiers and Workers in Argentina, 1976-83 (Penn State University Press, 1998).

Articles

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“The State as a Determinant of Democracy: Durable Poor-Quality Democracies in Contemporary Latin America.” Democratization 31, 2 (2024): 341-65.

"Introduction: Tradition and Innovation in Critical Juncture Research," pp. 1–29, in David Collier and Munck (eds.), Critical Junctures and Historical Legacies: Insights and Methods for Comparative Social Science, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2022. [17]

“The Theoretical Foundations of Critical Juncture Research: Critique and Reconstruction,” pp. 109–37, in David Collier and Munck (eds.), Critical Junctures and Historical Legacies: Insights and Methods for Comparative Social Science, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2022. [18]

“Conceptualization and Measurement: Basic Distinctions and Guidelines,” pp. 331–52, in Luigi Curini and Robert Franzese (eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Research Methods in Political Science and International Relations, Vol. 1, with Jørgen Møller and Svend-Erik Skaaning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2020. [19]

“Comparative Politics at a Crossroad: Problems, Opportunities and Prospects from the North and South,” with Richard Snyder. Política y Gobierno (Mexico) 26, 1 (2019): 139-58. [20]

“Modernization Theory as a Case of Failed Knowledge Production.” The Annals of Comparative Democratization 16, 3 (2018): 37-41. [21] Archived 2019-08-13 at the Wayback Machine

"Building Blocks and Methodological Challenges: A Framework for Studying Critical Junctures," with David Collier, Qualitative and Multi-Method Research 15, 1 (2017). [22]

"What is Democracy? A Reconceptualization of the Quality of Democracy." Democratization, 23, 1 (2016): 1-26. [23]

"Building Democracy … Which Democracy? Ideology and Models of Democracy in Post-Transition Latin America." Government and Opposition 50, 3 (2015): 364-93. [24]

"State or Democracy First? Alternative Perspectives on the State-Democracy Nexus," with Sebastián L. Mazzuca. Democratization 21, 7 (2014): 1221-43. [25]

"Democratic Politics in Latin America: New Debates and Research Frontiers." Annual Review of Political Science 7 (2004): 437-62. [26]

"Tools for Qualitative Research," pp. 105–21, in Henry E. Brady and David Collier (eds.), Rethinking Social Inquiry: Diverse Tools, Shared Standards, Boulder, Col. and Berkeley, Cal.: Rowman & Littlefield and Berkeley Public Policy Press, 2004.

"Conceptualizing and Measuring Democracy: Evaluating Alternative Indices," with Jay Verkuilen. Comparative Political Studies 35, 1 (2002): 5-34. [27]

"The Regime Question: Theory Building in Democracy Studies." World Politics 54, 1 (2001): 119-44. [28]

"Game Theory and Comparative Politics: New Perspectives and Old Concerns." World Politics 53, 2 (2001): 173-204. [29]

"Modes of Transition and Democratization. South America and Eastern Europe in Comparative Perspective," with Carol Leff. Comparative Politics 29, 3 (1997): 343-62. [30] Archived 2018-01-28 at the Wayback Machine

"Disaggregating Political Regime: Conceptual Issues in the Study of Democratization." Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies Working Paper 228 (1996). [31]

References

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  1. ^ "Faculty Profile > USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences".
  2. ^ Munck CV. [1].
  3. ^ Sergio Ugaz, and Sonia Gonzales, "Entrevista a Gerardo Munck: La pasión y el arte son fundamentales para la Ciencia Política." Politai 5(9)(2014): 131-139. https://revistas.pucp.edu.pe/index.php/politai/article/view/13871/14495
  4. ^ Gerardo L. Munck and Jay Verkuilen, “Conceptualizing and Measuring Democracy: Evaluating Alternative Indices,” Comparative Political Studies 35, 1 (2002): 5-34 [2] ; Gerardo L. Munck , Measuring Democracy: A Bridge Between Scholarship and Politics. Baltimore, Md.: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009; Gerardo L. Munck, “The Study of Politics and Democracy: Touchstones of a Research Agenda,” pp. 25-37, in Gerardo L. Munck (ed.), Regimes and Democracy in Latin America. Theories and Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007; Gerardo L. Munck, “What is Democracy? A Reconceptualization of the Quality of Democracy,” Democratization 23, 1 (2016): 1-26. [3]
  5. ^ Sebastián L. Mazzuca and Gerardo L. Munck, “State or Democracy First? Alternative Perspectives on the State-Democracy Nexus,” Democratization 21, 7 (2014): 1221-43; Sebastián L. Mazzuca and Gerardo L. Munck, A Middle-Quality Institutional Trap: Democracy and State Capacity in Latin America, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2020.
  6. ^ David Collier and Gerardo L. Munck (eds.), “Symposium on Critical Junctures and Historical Legacies,” Qualitative and Multi-Method Research 15, 1 (Spring 2017); David Collier and Gerardo L. Munck (eds.), Critical Junctures and Historical Legacies: Insights and Methods for Comparative Social Science, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2022; “The Theoretical Foundations of Critical Juncture Research: Critique and Reconstruction,” pp. 109-37, in David Collier and Munck (eds.), Critical Junctures and Historical Legacies: Insights and Methods for Comparative Social Science, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2022.
  7. ^ Gerardo L. Munck and J.P. Luna, Latin American Politics and Society: A Comparative and Historical Analysis. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2022.
  8. ^ Gerardo L. Munck, "The Past and Present of Comparative Politics," pp. 32-59, in Munck and Richard Snyder, Passion, Craft, and Method in Comparative Politics (Baltimore, Md.: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007). [4]; Gerardo L. Munck and Richard Snyder “Comparative Politics at a Crossroad: Problems, Opportunities and Prospects from the North and South.” Política y Gobierno (Mexico) 26, 1 (2019): 139-58 [5]; Gerardo L. Munck and Richard Snyder (eds.), Passion, Craft, and Method in Comparative Politics. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007; Gerardo L. Munck and Richard Snyder (eds.), Pasión, oficio y método en la política comparada. Mexico: Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas [CIDE]), 2020; Gerardo L. Munck and Martín Tanaka, El pensamiento sociopolítico latinoamericano: Ciencias sociales e intelectuales en tiempos cambiantes (Buenos Aires, Argentina: Prometeo, 2023).
  9. ^ Gerardo L. Munck and Jay Verkuilen, “Conceptualizing and Measuring Democracy: Evaluating Alternative Indices,” Comparative Political Studies 35, 1 (2002): 5-34; for examples of the use of this distinction, see Marc Bühlmann, Wolfgang Merkel, Lisa Müller, and Bernhard Weßels, "The Democracy Barometer: A New Instrument to Measure the Quality of Democracy and its Potential for Comparative Research." European Political Science 11,4 (2012): 519-536; Brandgi Badri and Ghasemi Vahid, "A New Model for Measuring of Democracy, According to Critiques on Current Models." Journal of Political Studies 8, 32 (2016): 53-78; Heiko Giebler, Saskia P. Ruth, and Dag Tanneberg, ”Why Choice Matters? Revisiting and Comparing Measures of Democracy.” Politics and Governance 6,1 (2018): 1-10; and Lasse Egendal Leipziger, "Measuring Ethnic Inequality: An Assessment of Extant Cross-National Indices." British Journal of Political Science (2022): 1-22, p. 2. [6]
  10. ^ Gerardo L. Munck, Jørgen Møller, and Svend-Erik Skaaning, “Conceptualization and Measurement: Basic Distinctions and Guidelines,” pp. 331-52, in Luigi Curini and Robert Franzese (eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Research Methods in Political Science and International Relations, Vol. 1, with Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2020.
  11. ^ Gerardo L. Munck, Jørgen Møller and Svend-Erik Skaaning, “Conceptualization and Measurement: Basic Distinctions and Guidelines,” pp. 331-52, in Luigi Curini and Robert Franzese (eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Research Methods in Political Science and International Relations, Vol. 1, with Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2020, p. 347.
  12. ^ Sebastián L. Mazzuca and Gerardo L. Munck, A Middle-quality Institutional Trap: Democracy and State Capacity in Latin America. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2020, p. 63.
  13. ^ Gerardo L. Munck and J.P. Luna, Latin American Politics and Society: A Comparative and Historical Analysis. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2022.
  14. ^ Maria José Álvarez Rivadulla
  15. ^ Gerardo L. Munck and J.P. Luna, Latin American Politics and Society: A Comparative and Historical Analysis. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2022, pp. 550.
  16. ^ Gerardo L. Munck and J.P. Luna, Latin American Politics and Society: A Comparative and Historical Analysis. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2022, pp. xxx, 566.
  17. ^ Gerardo L. Munck, "The Past and Present of Comparative Politics," pp. 32-59, in Munck and Richard Snyder, Passion, Craft, and Method in Comparative Politics (Baltimore, Md.: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007). [7] Munck's periodization has been validated by Matthew Charles Wilson, "Trends in Political Science Research and the Progress of Comparative Politics," PS: Political Science & Politics 50(4)(2017): 979-984.
  18. ^ Gerardo L. Munck and Richard Snyder "Comparative Politics at a Crossroad: Problems, Opportunities and Prospects from the North and South." Política y Gobierno (Mexico) 26, 1 (2019): 139-58 [8]
  19. ^ United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Democracy in Latin America. Toward a Citizens’ Democracy (New York and Buenos Aires: UNDP and Aguilar, Altea, Taurus, Alfaguara, 2004). [9].
  20. ^ OAS (Organization of American States) and UNDP, Nuestra Democracia (México: OAS, UNDP and Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2010). Spanish version: [10]; english version: [11].
  21. ^ Angela Hawken and Gerardo L. Munck, “A Corruption Monitoring System for Afghanistan,” UNDP Accountability and Transparency (ACT) project, Kabul, Afghanistan, July 2008.
  22. ^ See, respectively, UNDP Asia Pacific Human Development Report, Tackling Corruption, Transforming Lives (2008) [12] and UNDP Asia Pacific Human Development Report, Power, Voice and Rights: A Turning Point for Gender Equality in Asia and the Pacific (2010). [13].
  23. ^ Methods for Election Observation: A Manual for OAS Election Observation Missions (Washington, D.C.: Organization of American States, October 2007). [14].
  24. ^ "Former Members of the International Experts Panel".
  25. ^ "OEI | Secretaria-Geral | Eventos | Lanzamiento del Programa Iberoamericano de Derechos Humanos, Democracia e Igualdad de la OEI".
  26. ^ "Presentación del Programa Iberoamericano de Derechos Humanos, Democracia e Igualdad de la OEI".
  27. ^ "Harrison, Miss Lillian Gemma".
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