ABSTRACT
The peculiar nature of Argentine politics became particularly salient with the rise of Peronism. In the extensive literature on Peronism one discovers that it often either lacks any scholarly basis altogether or is based on insufficient or unreliable research in the areas of history, sociology, and political science. The term deviation in describing the peculiarities of Argentine political development is based on the hypothesis that economic development and social modernization are the necessary and sufficient conditions tor a stable representative democracy. The political development of Argentina can be described as a series of stages, in accordance with a scheme generally applicable to the rest of Latin America. Independence was inspired in the ideals of eighteenth-century rationalism and the Enlightenment. Reintegration processes following mobilization do not always or necessarily express themselves through political or, electoral channels. The link between economic and political power in the hands of the oligarchy was reinstated, following its earlier interruption caused by widening electoral participation.
