Peronism

Peronism (also called "justicialism"), is an Argentine political ideology based on the ideas and programs associated with former president Juan Per?n.

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Per?n was a pragmatic figure, and through the course of his long career his views would frequently change. His ideology was nevertheless marked by some constants, including:

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• Strong authoritarian centralized government, with strict control of opposition forces (see political repression).
• Freedom from foreign influences.
• A supposed third way approach to economics which is neither socialist nor capitalist, but incorporates elements of both, resembling a kind of state capitalism.

Per?n's party, the Partido Justicialista, derived its name from the Spanish words for justice and social.

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Per?n's ideas were widely embraced by a variety of different groups in Argentina across the political spectrum. Per?n's personal views would eventually become a burden on the ideology, his anti-clericalism did not strike a sympathetic chord in Argentine society, and prior to his overthrow many Argentines began to call for "Peronism without Per?n". Nevertheless, a symptom of the success of Per?n's cult of personality has been the difficulty many Argentines have had in identifying themselves as "patriotic" without being Peronist.

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Today, there are several Argentine political parties identifying themselves as Peronist, including the party of the nation's current president, N?stor Kirchner.

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Per?n's public speeches were consistently nationalist and populist. It would also be difficult to separate Peronism from corporate nationalism, for Per?n nationalized Argentina's large corporations, blurring distinctions between corporations and government. At the same time, the labor unions became corporate themselves, relinquishing the right to strike in agreements with Per?n as Secretary of Welfare in the military government from 1943-45. In exchange, the state was to assume the role of negotiator between conflicting interests.

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While leaving aside fascist influences, it should be noted that after Per?n was overthrown in a coup in 1955 led by General Aramburu, he spent 18 years in exile, mostly in Francisco Franco's Spain. Though his feelings for Franco were mixed, Per?n never disguised his admiration for Benito Mussolini's domestic policies.

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Racism was notably absent from Per?n's agenda, although racism is sometimes thought to be integral to fascism. Likewise, violence, though certainly present in the early days of Per?n's rule, was never taken to the extremes of many other 20th century dictators. Peronism also lacked a strong interest in matters of foreign policy other than the belief that the political and economic influences of other nations should be kept out of Argentina and could thus be said to be somewhat isolationist.

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Even after Per?n's death, the legacy of Peronism left a lasting impression on the working class, who valued its goals and ideals.

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Ideology: An ideology is a collection of ideas. The word ideology was coined by Count Destutt de Tracy in the late 18th century to define a "science of ideas." An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things (compare Weltanschauung), as in common sense (see Ideology in e...

Cult of personality: Cult of personality or personality cult is a term for what is perceived to be excessive adulation of a single living leader. The term was coined by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in a speech titled On the Personality Cult and its Consequences, soon after the death of Joseph Stalin, but the phenomen...