Representation, Party System, and Civil Society in Argentina (2003–2015)

Abstract

This chapter analyzes the transformations of the political representation link in Argentina during the Kirchnerist governments. Kirchnerism is a political movement emerging from the 2001 Argentine crisis. I will argue that Kirchnerism changed the patterns of interaction between political representation and social mobilization. The literature describes a zero-sum game between representation and mobilization in Argentine democratic politics, but Kirchnerism politics worked differently from theoretical expectations. The re-legitimation of partisan activity did not mean either the transformation of partisan organizations or the decrease in contentious activism. On the contrary, Kirchnerism founded its representative pretensions on intense political cleavages and a high level of social mobilization.