Argentina: The Persistence of Peronism

Despite a rocky first term, Peronist President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner saw her popularity rebound, leading to a huge reelection victory in 2011. The election served as a reminder of the remarkable durability and ideologically flexible appeal of the Peronist "brand" in Argentine politics. It also showed the ability of what we might call the Kirchnerist center-left sub-brand of Peronism to dominate at the polls given a divided set of rivals, a national economy buoyed by a commodities boom, and a wave of personal sympathy for a recently widowed incumbent.