The Peruvian Revolutionary Election of 1871–1872

Abstract This chapter examines the “contentious election” of 1872 in Peru, which had short- and long-term consequences for the history of democracy in the country. Above all, this election, accompanied by violence, brought the first civilian president in Peruvian history to power after fifty years of military hegemony, and laid the foundations of a political culture of competition that struggled but endured during the twentieth century. Manuel Pardo, the elected president, and his supporters understood that they were experiencing a revolutionary moment, not only because of the creation of the political platform, built at the national level, whose work confronted half a century of military hegemony, but also because the campaign defined a theory and a praxis for the future parties that emerged after the following decade.