Argentina was one of the first Latin American countries to re-establish democracy during the Third Wave of Democratisation, and it was the only country to immediately open a case against the military crimes committed during the dictatorship. Despite many institutional crises in the form of four failed coup d’états, political crises with two presidents who did not finish their terms, and social crises with the huge demonstrations occurring in 1989 and 2001, electoral democracy in Argentina seemed to be consolidated. However, the country’s abysmal economic performance in 2023, facing more than 100% inflation, has increased citizens' dissatisfaction and therefore challenges political stability. The talk will discuss the results of the presidential elections taking place on 22 October and the prospects for democracy in the country.

Yanina Welp is Research Fellow at the Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy. From 2008 to 2018, she was the principal researcher at the Centre for Democracy Studies and co-director of the Zurich Latin American Centre (2016-2019), both at the University of Zurich. She is a founding member of Red de Politólogas. Her last book is The Will of the People. Populism and Citizens Participation in Latin America (De Gruyter 2022).