ABSTRACT
Unlike the Alfonsin administration, Menem explicitly favored the adoption of the Standard Security Model (SSM) in Argentina. In other words, Menem's neoconservative ideology and personalistic profile was not totally sufficient to counteract the incidence of Argentina's institutional architecture, the still robust system of check and balances, and the growing consensus built around the importance of defending the country's human rights agenda. Underpinned by a neoconservative ideology, the Menem administration approached the country's economic crisis by pursuing a series of market-oriented reforms, including programs of privatization, trade liberalization, and monetary and fiscal restructurings. Menem's economic reforms were opportunely accompanied and encouraged by different measures aimed at concentrating power in the hands of the executive. The Menem's administration reaffirmed the country's new approach to foreign affairs at the multilateral level by voting the same as the US in the United Nations' General Assembly. Soon after Menem took office, the national government also began to show signs of change in domestic politics.
