Argentina: Democracy, Authoritarianism and the Pursuit of Order

BOHOSLAVSKY, ERNESTO; MORRESI, SERGIO

The Right in the Americas: Distinct Trajectories and Hemispheric Convergences, from the Origins to the Present

Routledge

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2023;

This article explains how for decades Argentina lacked a stable and autonomous political right, able to play by the rules of democracy. The absence of a politically competitive right-wing party during most of the twentieth century has been identified as the source of Argentina’s traditional political challenges: coups d’état, lack of elite commitment with democracy, and little or no capacity to process social conflicts via republican institutions. The authors detail how economic and cultural elites in that country, even if internally fragmented, nonetheless systematically identified themselves with a peculiar blend of liberal-conservative tradition that rejected social, political, or cultural inclusion of popular sectors, embracing a hierarchical order, in tense coexistence with democratic principles as their structuring axis. Liberal-conservatives did not hesitate to resort to undemocratic and illiberal practices to maintain their privileges, occasionally even collaborating with their right-wing rivals: Catholic nationalists (culturally reactionary, politically authoritarian, and economically against free markets, and favouring a strong state). However, by the end of the twentieth century the elites learned to coexist within the liberal democratic framework. Their disruptive potential was thus limited, allowing the growth of right-wing political movements with more independent agendas and enhanced electoral appeal.