Resumen

DE LUCA, MIGUEL  y  MALAMUD, ANDRÉS. Argentina: Economic Turbulence, Social Polarization and Political Realignment. Rev. cienc. polít. (Santiago) [online]. 2010, vol.30, n.2, pp. 173-189. ISSN 0718-090X.  doi: 10.4067/S0718-090X2010000200001.

The 2009 mid-term elections produced a complex scenario for President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. By winning just one third of the vote, she lost the majority in the House and the Senate -in the latter case due to divisions in the ruling coalition rather than because of the electoral results. Social distress nurtured by government behavior contributed to galvanizing a previously fragmented opposition. Henee, two electoral coalitions with non-rival territorial strongholds managed to defeat the incumbent party in the main districts. The economy resented both the global crisis and domestic mismanagement; although a meltdown was avoided, fiscal frailty persists due to a lack of alternative credit sources. Confronted with divided government, high social polarization and a stumbling economy, the President faces her next two years without visible inclination towards political accommodation or credible prospects of reelection.

Palabras clave : Argentina; 2009 elections; political realignment; Peronism; Kirchner.