The institutionalization of “serial personalization” in Argentina's Peronist Party, 1983–2023

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this article is to explain howPeronism, an allegedly personalist party, has managed to insti-tutionalize its internal power struggles and its successionprocedures since democratization in 1983.Methods: The authors employ the common conceptual frame-work developed for this special issue. Evidence is drawn frompublic media, scholarly sources, and participant observation. Atwo-tier approach to party adaptation is developed to distinguishthe capacity to adjust to electoral challenges from the capacity toadjust to governmental challenges.Results and conclusion: The authors develop the concept of“serial personalization” to describe an informally routinized fea-ture by which middle-rank and subnational leaders transfer theirloyalty from one personalistic leader to another as long as he orshe delivers the best possible electoral performance and, whenin office, fiscal transferences.