Attacks on the Political Opposition

On the Decline of Liberal Democratic Representation

Abstract

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