During the 1990s Argentina was the only country in Latin America to combine radical economic reform and full democracy. In 2001, however, the country fell into a deep political and economic crisis and was widely seen as a basket case. This book explores both developments, examining the links between the (real and apparent) successes of the 1990s and the 2001 collapse. Specific topics include economic policymaking and reform, executive-legislative relations, the judiciary, federalism, political parties and the party system, and new patterns of social protest. Beyond its empirical analysis, the book contributes to several theoretical debates in comparative politics. Contemporary studies of political institutions focus almost exclusively on institutional design, neglecting issues of enforcement and stability. Yet a major problem in much of Latin America is that institutions of diverse types have often failed to take root. Besides examining the effects of institutional weakness, the book also uses the Argentine case to shed light on four other areas of current debate: tensions between radical economic reform and democracy; political parties and contemporary crises of representation; links between subnational and national politics; and the transformation of state-society relations in the post-corporatist era. Besides the editors, the contributors are Javier Auyero, Ernesto Calvo, Kent Eaton, Sebasti&án Etchemendy, Gretchen Helmke, Wonjae Hwang, Mark Jones, Enrique Peruzzotti, Pablo T. Spiller, Mariano Tommasi, and Juan Carlos Torre.

Argentina is still reeling from the worst economic and political crisis to afflict the nation in its modern history. Since December 2001, the country has been through economic depression and bankruptcy, the impoverishment of half the population, a presidency that changed four times in the span of two weeks, and social protests met by state repression that left dozens dead and hundreds injured. What brought on this state of affairs? What are the primary features of this crisis? Who are the key actors? And what are the potential ways out of the crisis? This volume brings together an assortment of experts to grapple with these questions. Broken Promises? traces the political and economic origins of the crisis, considers the reactions of Argentina's security forces during difficult times, reflects on the responses of Argentine society, and concludes with an analysis of Argentina's key relationships with Brazil and the U.S. This edited volume fills a gap in literature concerning the study of contemporary Argentine politics and will be of great interest to students of development, comparative politics, international politics, and Latin American studies.

Peronism, the Argentine political movement created by Juan Perón in the 1940's, has revolved since its inception around a personalistic leader, a set of powerful trade unions, and a weakly institutionalized political party. This book examines why Peronism continued to be weakly institutionalized as a party after Perón was overthrown in 1955 and argues that this weakness has impeded the consolidation of Argentine democracy. Within an analysis of Peronism from 1943 to 1995, the author pays special attention to the 1962-66 and 1984-88 periods, when some Peronist politicians and union leaders tried, but failed, to strengthen the party structure. By identifying the forces that led to these efforts of party-building and by analyzing the counterforces that thwarted them, he shows how these failures have shaped Argentina's experience with democracy. Drawing on this interpretation of Peronism and its place in Argentine politics, the book develops a distributive conflict/political party explanation for Argentina's democratic instability and contrasts it to alternatives that stress economic dependency, populist economic policies, political culture, and military interventionism.

Argentina has most of the characteristics that various theories of democracy postulate as prerequisites for achieving liberal democracy: an urban industrial economy, key economic resources under domestic control, the absence of a peasantry, the absence of ethnic or religious cleavages, relatively high levels of education, strong interest groups, an

Abortion and Democracy offers critical analyses of abortion politics in Latin America’s Southern Cone, with lessons and insights of wider significance. Drawing on the region’s recent history of military dictatorship and democratic transition, this edited volume explores how abortion rights demands fit with current democratic agendas. With a focus on Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, the book’s contributors delve into the complex reality of abortion through the examination of the discourses, strategies, successes, and challenges of abortion rights movements. Assembling a multiplicity of voices and experiences, the contributions illuminate key dimensions of abortion rights struggles: health aspects, litigation efforts, legislative debates, party politics, digital strategies, grassroots mobilization, coalition-building, affective and artistic components, and movement-countermovement dynamics. The book takes an approach that is sensitive to social inequalities and to the transnational aspects of abortion rights struggles in each country. It bridges different scales of analysis, from abortion experiences at the micro level of the clinic or the home to the macro sociopolitical and cultural forces that shape individual lives. This is an important intervention suitable for students and scholars of abortion politics, democracy in Latin America, gender and sexuality, and women’s rights.

The main area of sustained populist growth in recent decades has been Western Europe, where populist parties have not only endured longer than expected, but have increasingly begun to enter government. Focusing on three high-profile cases in Italy and Switzerland – the Popolo della Libertà (PDL), Lega Nord (LN) and Schweizerische Volkspartei (SVP) – Populists in Power is the first in-depth comparative study to examine whether these parties are indeed doomed to failure in office as many commentators have claimed. Albertazzi and McDonnell’s findings run contrary to much of the received wisdom. Based on extensive original research and fieldwork, they show that populist parties can be built to last, can achieve key policy victories and can survive the experience of government, without losing the support of either the voters or those within their parties. Contributing a new perspective to studies in populist politics, Populists in Power is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as scholars interested in modern government, parties and politics.

DIVAn interdisciplinary anthology that includes many primary materials never before published in English./div