Between Revolution and the Ballot Box: The Origins of the Argentine Radical Party in the 1890s

by Paula Alonso

• ISBN13: 9780521771856
• ISBN10: 0521771854
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-05-22
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Founded in 1891, the Uniòn Cìvica Radical, generally known as the Radical Party, is the oldest national political party in Argentina. As a central component of Argentina's political history, the Radical Party has received much attention from historians. However, most accounts have concentrated on the period after 1916, when the party won its first presidential election; the formative years of the party have generally been ignored. Yet as the strongest opposition party during the 1890s, a pivotal decade in the birth of Argentina's party system, the Radical Party effected a critical development in Argentine politics: it created a system of open confrontation and political competition. This study offers not merely a revised version of the party's story but also a new perspective on the nature of the Radical Party and of the politics of the nation as a whole.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
List of Abbreviations	xi
List of Tables and Figures	xiii
Introduction	1	(13)
The Political Arena	14	(33)
The Consolidation of Argentine Institutions	15	(6)
Economic and Social Transformations	21	(6)
Creole Politics	27	(11)
The PAN's Political Discourse	38	(9)
Mounting an Opposition	47	(22)
The Presidency of Juarez Celman (1886--1890)	48	(5)
The Rise of the Union Civica	53	(8)
The Revolution of 1890	61	(8)
The Short-Lived Union Civica	69	(25)
Organizing a Political Party	70	(6)
Committees and Conventions	76	(7)
The Agreement	83	(11)
The Radicals in Action: Part I	94	(39)
The Radical Leaders	94	(10)
A Time for Revolution	104	(14)
The Revolutions of July 1893	118	(9)
The Revolutions of August and September 1893	127	(6)
The Radicals in Action: Part II	133	(46)
Principles in Conflict	134	(8)
The Electoral Performance of the Radical Party	142	(20)
The Radicals in Congress	162	(17)
The Decline of the Radical Party	179	(26)
The Beginning of the Decline	180	(6)
Irigoyen versus Yrigoyen	186	(12)
Yrigoyen's Radical Party	198	(7)
Conclusion	205	(10)
Appendix 1 A Chronology of Political Parties and Factions, 1862--1910	215	(2)
Appendix 2 Details of the Members of the National Committee of the UCR in 1892	217	(2)
Appendix 3 Property Values in Buenos Aires, 1890--1898	219	(2)
Bibliography	221	(16)
Index	237