Reporters and think tanks increasingly seek out Hellinger for thoughts on developments in South America.

“In most places a scholar has to be incredibly productive early, to get tenure  – whether it’s good stuff or not, it doesn’t matter,” he says. “At Webster, because of the emphasis on teaching, you generally have a little bit more time to develop as a scholar. Which, in a field like political science, is particularly valuable, since you hope to get a little smarter with age about politics and life.”

He should know. Now entering his 30th year at Webster, the nationally recognized expert on Venezuela has seen how things can change.

When he joined Webster, military coups and instability were the norm in Latin America, and the Internet was an obscure tool of government and scholars. Today Hellinger fields questions from reporters and scholars about democracy in South America, and Webster’s graduate program in International Relations – which he now heads – is also available completely online.

The time and changes have combined for the most productive part of his career.

“As you progress in your career, teaching gets a little easier,” he says. “But I’m also enjoying it more now. I’m interested in the new teaching technologies. Things as simple as PowerPoint and YouTube have allowed me to incorporate many more visuals and diversify the classroom, and I’m enjoying that.”

Working over the last three years on his upcoming textbook, Democracy at Last?, has certainly helped Hellinger grow as a scholar.

The 600-page manuscript is unusually large for a single-author text. But it’s the fruit of a stimulating intellectual exercise that forced him to research beyond his specialty areas.

“This is the challenge in writing a textbook,” he explains: “If you make it too thematic, it becomes opinion-oriented, so a) people who don’t like the opinion won’t adopt it, and b) it will appear to students as though you are telling them what to think.

“But if you then don’t have any sort of point of view, it becomes more like reading an encyclopedia, which isn’t much fun. Useful, but not much fun. So you try to strike a balance.

“What I’ve done with Democracy at Last? is raise the question: The last 20 years have been unusual for Latin America in that we’ve had elected governments and a lack of military coups. So does this mean that the region has emerged into a new era in which some form of democracy is essentially the only legitimate form of government?”

In the text, Hellinger warns against assuming that’s the case, while also presenting different sides and factors related to the issue. Chapters are devoted to topics like globalization and development, the constitutional rule of law, ethnic conflicts, and U.S. influence in the region.

Publisher Prentice Hall approached Hellinger about writing the book because, with the events of the last 10 years, particularly in Venezuela, he has become an increasingly sought-after expert on the region.

Think tanks and reporters such as The New York Times Venezuelan correspondent Simon Romero check in with Hellinger frequently to solicit his interpretation of events or ask him to appear on panels and broadcasts.

The coincidence of his specialty and recent events have made him a popular guy.

“People in Washington have been seeking out people who are experts on the country,” he explains. “There are many more emerging now, but there’s really only a handful from my generation who chose to focus on Venezuela as a specialization. So now when Venezuela has suddenly become very important to U.S. policy makers and to the people who try to influence them, I get invitations two or three times a year to go to D.C.”

An expert on Latin American politics, Hellinger presented at a January 2008 forum in Washington, D.C.: “Venezuela in the 21st Century: Democratic Trajectories and Global Relations” Photo credit: Jeremy Bigwood

Hellinger has spent extensive time in several Latin American countries, including as a Fulbright scholar in Chilé and as a visiting scholar in Venezuela. Those experiences have resulted in bonuses for Webster that go beyond the classroom: For example, in 2005 he arranged for Venezuela’s ambassador to the U.S., Bernard Alvarez, to stop at Webster’s St. Louis campus to discuss his controversial government’s policies with Webster’s students and faculty.

Of course, from an American perspective, no discussion of contemporary South America is complete without mentioning Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez. A critic and thorn in the side of the Bush administration, Chávez has faced criticism for his brand of democratic socialism.

Despite how many perceive Chávez in the U.S., Hellinger is guardedly optimistic about the oil-dependent state’s future.

“More important than Chávez is the kind of awakening taking place in Venezuela,” he says. “Ten years ago, people felt they didn’t have any real input into government and decision-making. That has changed in a positive way.”

Hellinger credits Chávez for restoring a fair share of oil profits for the country and for instituting programs to alleviate poverty. At the same time, he says Chávez’s tendency to “shoot from the lip” doesn’t serve Venezuela’s or Chávez’s interests.

“And you worry about whether or not he would turn to a more authoritarian direction if he’s frustrated about achieving some of his goals,” Hellinger says. “But again, that is where the people come in. There’s an image in the U.S. that Chávez’s followers all sort of follow him blindly. But the results of the December referendum show they are capable of much more independent action and judgment than we’ve given them credit for here.”

Meanwhile, Hellinger’s interests are not only turned southward. Last summer, he was a visiting professor at China’s Shanghai University for Finance and Economics, where he will return once more in May. While there, he managed to expand another interest of his.

Already a guitar and mandolin player with two local folk bands (Maple Jam is one), Hellinger has now added to his repertoire the fiddle that he brought back with him.

“It’s not ready for public performances yet,” he announces to fans. “But it was nice to be able to afford a fiddle in China. That’s my new project now.”

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