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Articles

Vol. 30 No. 2 (2010)

Argentina: Economic Turbulence, Social Polarization and Political Realignment

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-090X2010000200001
Submitted
January 14, 2020
Published
2020-01-14

Abstract

The 2009 mid-term elections produced a complex scenario for President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. By winning just one third of the vote, she lost the majority in the House and the Senate – in the latter case due to divisions in the ruling coalition rather than because of the electoral results. Social distress nurtured by government behavior contributed to galvanizing a previously fragmented opposition. Hence, two electoral coalitions with non-rival territorial strongholds managed to defeat the incumbent party in the main districts. The economy resented both the global crisis and domestic mismanagement; although a meltdown was avoided, fiscal frailty persists due to a lack of alternative credit sources. Confronted with divided government, high social polarization and a stumbling economy, the President faces her next two years without visible inclination towards political accommodation or credible prospects of reelection.

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