El análisis del sistema de partidos en la ciencia política argentina: aporte al estado de la cuestión y propuesta de ordenamiento

Abstract

In this article we propose to account for the major productions on party systems in the social and political sciences in Argentina. Here we present a literature review from 1961 to the present. First, this task allows us to sort the literature into three groups: a sociological perspective (1961-1980), a view from the institutionalization of the party system (1980-2000) and other of systemic character and oriented to understanding fragmentation and denationalization of party system and its consequences (2000-present). Additionally we can confirm that the analysis of the party system as explanatory variable has been relatively scarce until recently. Second, we found that these studies followed a path that led from the concern about the ability of the system to process conflicts and sustain democratic stability to the concern of the impact of denationalized party systems on the state’s ability to make decisions. Finally, from a perspective that incorporates the plurality of party systems we present a proposal to develop links between the existing traditions, at first sight contradictory.