The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Why do presidents fail? political leadership and the Argentine crisis (1999–2001)

Why do presidents fail? political leadership and the Argentine crisis (1999–2001)
Why do presidents fail? political leadership and the Argentine crisis (1999–2001)
This article explores why Argentine president Fernando de la Rúa (1999–2001) failed to govern and the factors that prevented him from completing his constitutional mandate. This study draw on current literature about leadership. We argue that President De la Rúa’s ineffective performance was characteristic of an inflexible tendency towards unilateralism, isolationism, and an inability to compromise and persuade. Moreover, we examine how de la Rúas performance, in the context of severe political and economic constraints, discouraged cooperative practices among political actors, led to decision-making paralysis, and ultimately to a crisis of governance.

This work seeks to make four contributions. First, it conceptualizes political leadership by providing an analytical framework that integrates individual action, institutional resources and constraints, and policy context, thus filling a gap in the literature. Second, it explains the importance of effective leadership in building up and maintaining multiparty coalitions in presidential systems. Third, it complements existing institutional approaches to improve our understanding of a new type of instability in Latin America: the failure of more than a dozen of presidents to complete their constitutional mandates. Fourth, it analyzes the way political and economic variables interact in times of crisis.
0039-3606
77-103
Llanos, Mariana
adc8494c-211b-4ee0-90b7-16e1d604b754
Margheritis, Ana
af0b7f76-16ba-4f96-953d-7ffbd60b5d53
Llanos, Mariana
adc8494c-211b-4ee0-90b7-16e1d604b754
Margheritis, Ana
af0b7f76-16ba-4f96-953d-7ffbd60b5d53

Llanos, Mariana and Margheritis, Ana (2006) Why do presidents fail? political leadership and the Argentine crisis (1999–2001). Studies in Comparative International Development, 40 (4), 77-103. (doi:10.1007/BF02686304).

Record type: Article

Abstract

This article explores why Argentine president Fernando de la Rúa (1999–2001) failed to govern and the factors that prevented him from completing his constitutional mandate. This study draw on current literature about leadership. We argue that President De la Rúa’s ineffective performance was characteristic of an inflexible tendency towards unilateralism, isolationism, and an inability to compromise and persuade. Moreover, we examine how de la Rúas performance, in the context of severe political and economic constraints, discouraged cooperative practices among political actors, led to decision-making paralysis, and ultimately to a crisis of governance.

This work seeks to make four contributions. First, it conceptualizes political leadership by providing an analytical framework that integrates individual action, institutional resources and constraints, and policy context, thus filling a gap in the literature. Second, it explains the importance of effective leadership in building up and maintaining multiparty coalitions in presidential systems. Third, it complements existing institutional approaches to improve our understanding of a new type of instability in Latin America: the failure of more than a dozen of presidents to complete their constitutional mandates. Fourth, it analyzes the way political and economic variables interact in times of crisis.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: December 2006
Organisations: Social Sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 359660
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/359660
ISSN: 0039-3606
PURE UUID: e4beb17c-967d-41bf-ac4d-1c88bdb486cd
ORCID for Ana Margheritis: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-8126-4478

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 07 Nov 2013 13:44
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 15:26

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Mariana Llanos
Author: Ana Margheritis ORCID iD

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×