Glossary: Peronism
DEFINITION:
An eclectic Argentine political movement formed in 1945-46 to support the successful presidential candidacy of Juan Domingo Perón. The movement later splintered, with left-wingers forming the Montoneros urban guerrilla group. Nevertheless, the fractious movement survived Perón’s death in 1974 and made a good showing in the congressional elections of 1986. The political, economic, and social ideology of Peronism was formally labelled Justicialismo, meaning social justice, in 1949. It combines nationalism, social democracy, loyalty to the memory of Perón, and Personalismo, which is the dominance of a nation’s political life by an individual, often a charismatic personality.