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Is Peronism Democratic?
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16418 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
5 / 1989 |
2,073 Words |
| Author
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David C. Jordan
David C. Jordan is professor of Latin American studies at the
University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. |
On May 14, Argentines are scheduled to go to the polls to elect a new government. Should these elections occur and an orderly transfer of power take place in December, this will be the first time one elected government has succeeded another since Juan D. Peron succeeded himself in 1952.
Most recent public opinion polls show the Peronist Party candidate, Carlos Saul Menem, winning this election over the Radical Party's standard-bearer, Eduardo Angeloz. Since the Radical Party has an established reputation as democratic, most concern for the consolidation of Argentine democracy is expressed over the democratic credentials of the Peronists. The debate over the party's founder, Peron, is probably destined to be a permanent part of Argentina's historiography, but the nature of his party's democratic commitment, now that he is dead, can be tested should Menem win.
Many people had written the Peronists obituary after they lost the 1983 elections to the Raulm Alfonsin-led Radical Party. Peronism was thought to have entered into a severe depression as a result of this defeat. The party was internally fragmented, divided between traditionalists and a renovating wing, and perceived as containing many antidemocratic elements. Now it is poised to win the upcoming elections and carries the main responsibility for continuing the legitimation of Argentine democracy.
There are three major threats to this progress. First, the Menem-led Peronists will inherit an economy from the Alfonsin adminstration that is in even more serious difficulties than the one Alfonsin inherited from the military. Inflation was as high in 1988 (nearly 400 percent) as it was
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