ABSTRACT
The 1978 elections had suggested a potential shift in patterns of party control. Although traditional clientelism had been underlined by Turbay's successful quest for the presidency, it also showed a deterioration that constituted the historical trend. Ultimately, however, Turbay's administration would be remembered less for socioeconomic policy than for its concerted campaign to established unchallenged systemic controls, whatever the cost in repression and the potential weakening of democratic values. Political violence had risen perceptibly toward the close of the Lopez administration, constituting a growing threat to National Front leadership. Social and political controls of unparalleled severity were undertaken, only to produce a further deterioration of conditions. In the Liberal campaign for March 1982 congressional elections, Lopez reverted to his early reformist days by advocating Liberal membership in the Socialist International while painting himself as a leftist.
