Presidentialism in Argentina, Failed Presidencies as Indicators of Defected Constitutional Design

This paper proposes that the failed presidencies in Argentina since the reinstallation of democracy in 1983 were caused by institutional flaws of the Argentine presidential system itself. While focusing on the failed presidential term of Fernando de La Rua, I argue that the premature departures of presidents in Argentina in general are signs of a presidential structure which emphasizes and increases the main deficiencies of presidentialism: the inflexibility of the presidential structure, hyperpresidentialism, and the dual democratic legitimacy, among other characteristics. My project seeks to understand the impact of presidentialism on political instability in Argentina, and emphasizes the problems of governability produced by the constitutional design of the system itself.