ABSTRACT
Since the 1930s and, more intensely, since the 1950s, the processes of modernization associated with the spread of capitalism undermined the traditional bases of political power in Peru and contributed to the emergence of new social actors and the expansion of political participation. The patrimonial character of the populist leaders encouraged political sectarism. The delegitimization of politics created the conditions for the rise of the independents—outsiders to formal political parties—as important political actors, and in the presidential election of 1990 both candidates—Vargas Llosa and Alberto Fujimori—were independents. In addition, the informal sector would give rise to political independents and the formation of an "authentic" civil society that functioned on the basis of market criteria and was accompanied by a depoliticization of economic decision making. The lack of institutional means connecting civil society and the state may result in an accumulation of frustrations and a new "popular deluge".
