ABSTRACT
Political conditions in Argentina in early 1984 were such that the new constitutional government was shaky from its very beginnings. The regime had to make immediate and energetic efforts to protect itself: increase its support if it could, and continually outmaneuver a strong opposition. Two great examples of movimientismo overshadow twentieth century Argentine political history: Radicalism or Yrigoyenismo and the parent of Alfonsinismo on one hand; Peronismo on the other. Movements are usually erected upon caudillos and often exemplify the peculiarly Latin American politico-cultural tradition known as "personalism." Movements confer leadership on individuals, whose ideas and personalities are believed to embody a set of general interests or goals. Movements aim to establish pyramidal communication linkages between their elites and their popular base in such a way as to bureaucratize the authority of their leaders. Both Yrigoyenismo and Peronismo were products of social change, and new political expressions of emergent social classes.
