South American democracy---Peronism is a true democracy, or not?
Ma Qian (Grace) Student ID : S06105
Law School
Research Paper Supervisor : Dr. Sekou Conde
Minzhu University of China
2006-2007 Academic Year
What is the democracy? Is the Peronism, which arouses the masses’ passion of participating political matters and considered the lower class needs, a genuine form of democracy? What was the result when Peron governed Argentina? All of these questions are appearing inevitably, when one focuses on the situation of Argentina. Because a lot of people were once moved by a well-known Hollywood movie Evita, which narrated the story of Peron’s charismatic wife, who helped Peron set up social foundations. And the song of this movie, named don’t cry for me Argentina, is also still sung one by one over the world.
Argentina located in the southeast of South America, and declared independence in 1816 and managed to back this effective resistance against Spain during the 1820s.From 1853 Argentina adopted a constitution based on that of the United States, with a two house congress and a president elected with an electoral college. Likewise the role of the military and political ??/span>strong man??/span>are the important features of Argentine politics. And organized urban labor would also be key political through much of the twentieth century.[1]Colonel Peron, as one of leading figures of military regime in 1943, won the 1946 elections for presidency .He had promised workers higher wages and social security. Then upon election, Peron developed a form of government called Peronism that appealed to the working class of Argentina. “It was designed to meet the needs and interests of all the people. This is also known as a true democracy” as Juan Domingo Peron said. The effect of Peronism is very deep in the country and the whole South America, till now a lot of citizens even yearn for it. But people have contrasting views of Peronism. Someone think it is a democratic government .it is the first time that the dignity of lower class was respected.[2] The others argue that Peronism is one kind of populism which governs the country as a dictator in the name of masses. It ruins the foundation of democracy.[3]
In my paper ,I will first talk about what is democracy; and then refer to more details of Peronism; thirdly, analyze the relationship between democracy and Peronism; Finally give my own opinion of Peronism .
1. What is Democracy?
Democracy derives from Greek word ??/span>demos??/span>and literally means the rule of people.[4] Traditionally, it goes back to one pattern in Greek city states, where for a time citizens had political power through various forms of direct representation, election officials, and the democratic jury system.
In the simplest sense, democracy is rule by the ruled. The minimalist conception of democracy is a system of government in which citizens give teams of political leaders the right to rule in periodic elections. [5] In a democratic political system, government power is legitimized by the consent of the governed. Consent is expressed in a variety of forms, including election of government leaders and citizen participation in governing processes.
In the modern time, democracy tends to be representative democracies, based largely on election of officials into senates, congresses and parliaments. But that is not enough, citizens cannot and should not “rule”, for example, on most issues, most of the time, they have no clear views or their views are not well-founded.[6] So a lot more need to be done, before a country can be genuinely democratic, like giving real power to the broad mass of people in fair way. Thus the congress, senate or parliament need to have different voice, there need to be a relatively open media, a relatively fair curt system to avoid exclusion and unfair prosecution of political candidates. There still have anther form of democracy named direct democracy. It is a form of democracy that sovereignty is lodged in the assembly of all citizens who choose to participate. Depending on the particular system, this assembly might pass executive motions, make law, elect and dismiss officials and conduct trials. The assembly elected officials; these were executive agents or direct representatives (bound to the will of the people).[7]
Furthermore??/span>the definition of democracy has been expanded, which insists on the right and the capacity of a people, acting either directly or through representatives, to control their institutions for their own purposes. So emphasis was placed on broadening the human rights and improving the machinery for enabling the will of the people to be more fully and directly expressed. Such as the United States, where, despite being a federal republic where no direct democracy exists at the federal level, over half the states (and many localities) provide for citizen-sponsored ballot initiatives (also called "ballot measures" or "ballot questions") and the vast majority of the states have either initiatives and/or referenda.[8] So the form of democracy can vary, with direct democracy at one pole and representative democracy at the other. Direct democracy allows for unmediated citizen deliberation and decision making on public matters; representative democracy permits citizens to elect representatives who act on their behalf.
Likewise, in modern thought, democracy should not only empower majority rule, but should also protect minority rights, human rights and individual liberties. Liberal democracy that people often speak of should balance these different needs. Liberal democracy is a representative democracy along with the protection of minorities, the rule of law, a separation of powers, and protection of liberties of speech, assembly, religion, and property. Conversely, an illiberal democracy is one where the protections that form a liberal democracy are either nonexistent, or not enforced.
All in all fundamental democratic principle must be followed, that when it comes to binding collective decisions, each person in a political community is entitled to have his/her interests be given equal consideration (not necessarily that all people are equally satisfied by the collective decision).[9]
2. What is Peronism in Argentina
Generally speaking, Peronism an economic, political, and social ideology called Justicialism (social justice), the combination of nationalism, social democracy and devotion to Juan Domingo Peron.[10]
In South American, Populism[11] means the practice in the way of Peronism. Nowadays, the Peronism has already become the combination of Populism and centralization of state power. On the politics , it is that achieving the support of citizens by giving “ bread and entertainment” to them, cast off the representative democratic process to gain the power beyond the constitution .On the economy ,it is “economic democracy ”,which emphasizes re-distribution of income ,in the name of justice, deprives the estate of minority . On the material policies, it claims nationalization, actively builds public projects, and adopts welfare policy .In addition, Peronism is against economic globalization, and implements import substitution strategies.
Juan Peron??/span>a colonel who had been part of GOU,(Grupa Obra de Unificacion, dissident officers who wanted a stronger political role),entered political scene from 1943,first as a secretary of labor ,from which he began to build political support among industrialized workers .[12]He won the 1946 election with a 54% majority, and moved to position the government as arbiter of all social disputes, and to set up a state- guided capitalist system. Moreover Peron’s popularity greatly was aided by his charismatic wife Evita. She set up social foundations that help the poor. She became a symbol for the fight for justice for the lower class Argentines. She would hand out food to the poor and helped them move through their hardships. Her reputation continued to improve until she was the idol of every girl in Argentina.[13]
When Peron won in the re-election with 67%of the vote in 1951, he went to create the Peronist party, whose Tribunal of Party Discipline was the beginning of a much more authoritarian state system[14]He developed a form of government that would change the management of Argentina .Peron had based his rule partly to embrace both the unions and the military.
His ideology was nevertheless marked by some constants, including:[15]
Strong authoritarian centralized government, with strict control of opposition forces.
Freedom from foreign influences.
A third way approach to economics which purported to be neither socialist nor capitalist, but to incorporate elements of both in a corporativist manner.
3. The effect of Peronism in Argentina
The appropriately named Peronism attracted the lower class with its promise to raise the living standards of the poor. Peronism can be described as humanism in action. It was designed to meet the needs and interests of all the people. This is also known as a true democracy. It used the doctrine of Justicialism in which social justice is given to all people. A balance is kept between the rights of an individual and the good of the community. Theoretically everyone is in the working class. They all work for the good of the community. There is no discrimination of people except for whether they are working for the good of the country or if they are being unconstructive. The homeland comes first, the cause second and the people come third. When peronism is achieved, it is felt, not understood.[16]
When Juan Domingo Peron died in body, he didn’t die in soul. The ideals of peronism are still [...]
). If you have the permission, you can login now.