Institutional Innovation in Argentina since 1983: for Presidential Elections, Runoff with a Reduced Threshold

Abstract

Whereas in recent decades most Latin American countries adopted a runoff rule that requires a majority of the vote for victory in the presidential election, Argentina adopted a runoff rule with a reduced threshold (45 percent or 40 percent plus a 10-point lead). This research note argues that Argentina’s rule successfully prevented the election in 2003 of a president with very scant support and a potentially very serious legitimacy deficit. However, the reduced threshold voided a runoff that would have been advantageous for presidential legitimacy in 1999. Further, although the reduced threshold constrained party-system fragmentation in Argentina, it also advantaged a longstanding political party with authoritarian proclivities and impeded the emergence of new parties that might have been valuable for the country’s democracy