Charisma's Triumph over Organization: Peronism Throughout the Decades

Schimmel/Conrades Science Center 176

“A party’s organization characteristics depend more upon its history, i.e. on how the organization orientated and how it consolidated…[e]very organization bears the mark of its formation, of the crucial political-administrative decision made by its founders, the decision which ‘molded’ the organization." The validity (or maybe the potency/breadth) of this idea when applied to Peronism is the main topic for this paper. The importance of this topic cannot be understated as the Partido Justicialista (PJ), the largest component of the Peronist movement, continues to be one of the most prevalent parties in Argentina’s two-party system--the other being the UCR. How did one man, with the perfect partner (or puppet) at his side--Evita--spark such a revolution that fundamentally changed Argentine politics forever? And how has this revolution been carried out throughout the decades by the hands of different Peronist leaders?