The Argentine Presidential Election of 1880

Abstract This chapter examines the electoral contest of 1880 in Argentina, the most contentious presidential election in this country during the nineteenth century. Accompanied by a serious armed conflict, its bellicose nature reflected what was at stake: different interpretations of the country’s past and divergent visions of its future; a dispute over economic resources; contrasting political cultures and practices; and constitutional issues regarding the state-building process and its implications. This election was highly consequential: It accelerated the consolidation of the national government and propelled a rapid state-building process; national politics were transformed from a competitive system with alternating parties in power to a system of one-party rule, the victorious Partido Autonomista Nacional (PAN). Under the hegemony of the PAN, the country experienced unprecedented political stability and one of the most notable accelerations in economic growth in world history, fueled by the arrival of millions of European immigrants and foreign capital investment.