Ben Raderstorf | University of California, Berkeley (original) (raw)

Papers by Ben Raderstorf

This comparative politics thesis attempts to understand recent changes in political strategy and ... more This comparative politics thesis attempts to understand recent changes in political strategy and distributive policies by Argentina’s ruling Peronist Party, shifting from a heavy reliance on clientelism—vote buying, patronage, and 'pork'—and towards programmatic, and universal social programs (such as conditional cash transfers). In pursuing these universal voter-linkages, the Peronists seem to have risked their own political viability, seeing as much of their support traditionally comes from clientelistic exchanges. However, through qualitative interviews with politicians, brokers, journalists, voters, and other political actors, this thesis demonstrates that the shift away from clientelism is not strictly about expanding political support overall, but also an attempt by the president to centralize power and electoral support within the traditionally fragmented party and prevent defections by fellow party members. In doing so, this thesis uses the Argentine case to challenge previous scholarship on the issue, which generally considers clientelism and universalism as largely inter-party electoral strategies. With a new three-part model of clientelism—delineating politician, machine, and voter—this thesis attempts to show how decisions to employ or not employ certain strategies do not simply result from political parties as ‘unitary’ actors, but can also stem from intra-party dynamics, competition, and power struggles.

This paper analyzes one of the most important cases of programmatic reinvention, in which Argenti... more This paper analyzes one of the most important cases of programmatic reinvention, in which Argentine Peronism rapidly embraced neoliberalism between the return of democracy in 1983 and the end of Carlos Menem’s two terms in the presidency in 1999. During this period, Peronism not only underwent a profound transition from a labor-based movement to a clientelist, machine-based party, but also came to embrace—in a total break with past ideological positions—a sweeping neoliberal reform program, shifting economic policy rapidly and dramatically to the right. By the time Menem left office, the Justicialist Party (PJ)—Peronism’s official name—as well as Argentine society had become nearly unrecognizable. Over the course of a decade, the country’s primary popular sector and labor party had come to successfully sponsor a massive neoliberal program of privatization, deregulation, trade liberalization, austerity, and deunionization that spurred economic growth and stability at the significant social costs of increased unemployment, poverty, and income inequality.

This comparative politics thesis attempts to understand recent changes in political strategy and ... more This comparative politics thesis attempts to understand recent changes in political strategy and distributive policies by Argentina’s ruling Peronist Party, shifting from a heavy reliance on clientelism—vote buying, patronage, and 'pork'—and towards programmatic, and universal social programs (such as conditional cash transfers). In pursuing these universal voter-linkages, the Peronists seem to have risked their own political viability, seeing as much of their support traditionally comes from clientelistic exchanges. However, through qualitative interviews with politicians, brokers, journalists, voters, and other political actors, this thesis demonstrates that the shift away from clientelism is not strictly about expanding political support overall, but also an attempt by the president to centralize power and electoral support within the traditionally fragmented party and prevent defections by fellow party members. In doing so, this thesis uses the Argentine case to challenge previous scholarship on the issue, which generally considers clientelism and universalism as largely inter-party electoral strategies. With a new three-part model of clientelism—delineating politician, machine, and voter—this thesis attempts to show how decisions to employ or not employ certain strategies do not simply result from political parties as ‘unitary’ actors, but can also stem from intra-party dynamics, competition, and power struggles.

This paper analyzes one of the most important cases of programmatic reinvention, in which Argenti... more This paper analyzes one of the most important cases of programmatic reinvention, in which Argentine Peronism rapidly embraced neoliberalism between the return of democracy in 1983 and the end of Carlos Menem’s two terms in the presidency in 1999. During this period, Peronism not only underwent a profound transition from a labor-based movement to a clientelist, machine-based party, but also came to embrace—in a total break with past ideological positions—a sweeping neoliberal reform program, shifting economic policy rapidly and dramatically to the right. By the time Menem left office, the Justicialist Party (PJ)—Peronism’s official name—as well as Argentine society had become nearly unrecognizable. Over the course of a decade, the country’s primary popular sector and labor party had come to successfully sponsor a massive neoliberal program of privatization, deregulation, trade liberalization, austerity, and deunionization that spurred economic growth and stability at the significant social costs of increased unemployment, poverty, and income inequality.