The Latin American Populism of the XXI Century: A new political model beyond Neoliberalism? The case study of Argentina and Venezuela
Author
Arias Iglesias, Ines
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2015
Submitted on
2015-12-13
Pages
65
Abstract
I begyndelsen af 2000’erne valgte flere latinamerikanske lande venstreorienterede, karismatiske ledere, som ændrede, hvordan befolkningen forstod og deltog i politik. Da nogle af disse regeringer senere stod over for alvorlige problemer—særligt i Argentina og Venezuela—spørger dette speciale, om deres populistiske projekter faktisk tilbød et alternativ til den tidligere neoliberale model. Præsidentvalget i Argentina (november 2015) og valget til Nationalforsamlingen i Venezuela (december 2015) gav en oplagt anledning til at undersøge stabiliteten i de modeller, som disse ledere fremmede. Med fokus på Kirchnerismen i Argentina og Chavismen i Venezuela—to af de mest kontrasterende cases i Latinamerikas “tredje bølge af populisme” (en nyere bølge af ledere, der hævder at tale på folkets vegne mod eliter)—vurderer specialet, i hvilken grad de udgør en ny politisk model sammenlignet med tidligere neoliberale regimer. Studiet anvender en blandet metodisk tilgang med to casestudier og en multifaktoriel forståelse af populisme. Det kortlægger de tidligere og nuværende modeller i hvert land og sammenligner dem systematisk for at besvare problemformuleringen. Resultaterne viser, at Chavismen tilbød en ny alternativ politisk model i forhold til Venezuelas tidligere system, men at den beholdt strukturelle træk fra den forrige model, som gjorde den meget sårbar over for udsving på udenlandske markeder. I Argentina konkluderer analysen, at Kirchnerismen ikke indførte en ny politisk model; i stedet reformulerede den den peronistiske tradition, så den passede til samtidens forhold. Den tilbød således et alternativ, men ikke en egentlig ny model—og den bevarede, ligesom i Venezuela, strukturelle elementer fra det forrige regime. Disse modsatrettede resultater antyder, at politisk forandring inden for den samme regionale bølge af populisme kan tage form som enten nyskabende, men skrøbelige redesigns eller tilpasninger af veletablerede traditioner.
In the early 2000s, several Latin American countries elected left-wing, charismatic leaders who reshaped how people understood and took part in politics. As some of these governments later faced serious problems—especially in Argentina and Venezuela—this thesis asks whether their populist projects truly offered an alternative to the earlier neoliberal model. The presidential election in Argentina (November 2015) and the National Assembly election in Venezuela (December 2015) created a timely opportunity to examine the stability of the models promoted by these leaders. Focusing on Kirchnerismo in Argentina and Chavismo in Venezuela—two of the most contrasting cases in Latin America’s “third wave of populism” (a recent wave of leaders claiming to speak for the people against elites)—the thesis assesses to what extent they constitute a new political model compared with previous neoliberal regimes. The study uses a mixed-methods approach built around two case studies and a multifactorial understanding of populism. It maps the earlier and current models in each country and then compares them systematically to answer the research question. Findings show that Chavismo offered a new alternative political model relative to Venezuela’s previous system, yet it retained structural features from the earlier model that left it highly vulnerable to fluctuations in foreign markets. In Argentina, the analysis concludes that Kirchnerismo did not introduce a new political model; rather, it reformulated the Peronist tradition to fit contemporary conditions. It therefore provided an alternative, but not a genuinely new model—and, as in Venezuela, it preserved structural elements from the prior regime. These contrasting outcomes suggest that within the same regional wave of populism, political change can take the form of either innovative but fragile redesigns or adaptations of long-standing traditions.
[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]
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