Attacks on the Political Opposition: On the Decline of Liberal Democratic Representation

This article argues, based on the Argentine case, that radical political polarization deteriorates democratic representation by weakening oppositions as viable alternatives. Govern ments spend enormous resources delegitimizing oppositions, thereby blocking the circulation of elites within government...

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Autor principal: Russo, Juan
Formato: Artículo revista
Lenguaje:Español
Publicado: Universidad Nacional de Rosario 2025
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Acceso en línea:https://relasp.unr.edu.ar/index.php/revista/article/view/160
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id I15-R205-article-160
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spelling I15-R205-article-1602025-11-13T21:33:27Z Attacks on the Political Opposition: On the Decline of Liberal Democratic Representation Embates contra la oposición política: sobre el declive de la representación liberal democrática Russo, Juan Oposición polarización radical representación democrática legitimación Opposition radical polarization democratic representation legitimation This article argues, based on the Argentine case, that radical political polarization deteriorates democratic representation by weakening oppositions as viable alternatives. Govern ments spend enormous resources delegitimizing oppositions, thereby blocking the circulation of elites within government, alienating voters not only from the government but also from potential replacements. The cost of policies focused on discrediting the opposition is, on the one hand, gover nmental ineffectiveness and, on the other, the deterioration of democratic representation, since the legitimization of the opposition is the essential and distinctive feature of political representation in mass liberal democracies En este artículo se sostiene, a la luz del caso argentino, que la polarización política radical deteriora la representación democrática al lesionar a las oposiciones como alternativas viables. Los gobiernos emplean enormes recursos en deslegitimar a las oposiciones, con lo cual se bloquean la circulación de élites en el gobierno, alejando a los electores no sólo del gobierno, sino de sus potenciales reemplazantes. El costo de políticas centradas en generar descrédito de la oposición es, por una parte, la ineficacia gubernamental y por otra el deterioro de la representación democrática, pues la legitimación de la oposición es el rasgo esencial y distintivo de la representación política en las democracias liberales de masas. Universidad Nacional de Rosario 2025-11-13 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion application/pdf https://relasp.unr.edu.ar/index.php/revista/article/view/160 10.35305/rr.v6i10.160 Revista Euro latinoamericana de Análisis Social y Político (RELASP); Vol. 6 Núm. 10 (2025); 45-68 2683-7420 2683-7420 spa https://relasp.unr.edu.ar/index.php/revista/article/view/160/217 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
institution Universidad Nacional de Rosario
institution_str I-15
repository_str R-205
container_title_str RELASP
language Español
format Artículo revista
topic Oposición
polarización radical
representación democrática
legitimación
Opposition
radical polarization
democratic representation
legitimation
spellingShingle Oposición
polarización radical
representación democrática
legitimación
Opposition
radical polarization
democratic representation
legitimation
Russo, Juan
Attacks on the Political Opposition: On the Decline of Liberal Democratic Representation
topic_facet Oposición
polarización radical
representación democrática
legitimación
Opposition
radical polarization
democratic representation
legitimation
author Russo, Juan
author_facet Russo, Juan
author_sort Russo, Juan
title Attacks on the Political Opposition: On the Decline of Liberal Democratic Representation
title_short Attacks on the Political Opposition: On the Decline of Liberal Democratic Representation
title_full Attacks on the Political Opposition: On the Decline of Liberal Democratic Representation
title_fullStr Attacks on the Political Opposition: On the Decline of Liberal Democratic Representation
title_full_unstemmed Attacks on the Political Opposition: On the Decline of Liberal Democratic Representation
title_sort attacks on the political opposition: on the decline of liberal democratic representation
description This article argues, based on the Argentine case, that radical political polarization deteriorates democratic representation by weakening oppositions as viable alternatives. Govern ments spend enormous resources delegitimizing oppositions, thereby blocking the circulation of elites within government, alienating voters not only from the government but also from potential replacements. The cost of policies focused on discrediting the opposition is, on the one hand, gover nmental ineffectiveness and, on the other, the deterioration of democratic representation, since the legitimization of the opposition is the essential and distinctive feature of political representation in mass liberal democracies
publisher Universidad Nacional de Rosario
publishDate 2025
url https://relasp.unr.edu.ar/index.php/revista/article/view/160
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