Argentina. Peronist or Justicialist lapel pin with the effigies of Juan Domingo Perón and Evita Perón. 1950s.
Peronism, also known as justicialism, is a political trend and movement that emerged in Argentina in the mid-1940s around the figure of Juan Domingo Perón and the labor and social security policies he implemented from the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare during the Revolution of 1943. Since its inception, it has had a significant influence on Argentina’s political landscape.
The alternative name «justicialism» comes from the importance this movement places on social justice. In 1952, Article 3 of Law 14.184 defined «as the ‘national doctrine’, adopted by the Argentine people, the Peronist doctrine or justicialism.» The opposition to Peronism generated a politically influential, non-organized movement, known as anti-Peronism.
The Peronist movement encompasses a variety of currents, not always precise or constant throughout history, sometimes even opposing one another, including in elections. Among the main Peronist currents throughout history are historical Peronism, orthodox Peronism, neo-Peronism, «revolutionary Peronism» which included the Tendencia, syndical Peronism, right-wing Peronism, Menemism, Kirchnerism, federal Peronism which includes the Renovador Front, feminist Peronism, etc.
Between 1946 and 2019, Justicialism won ten presidential elections in total: 1946 (Perón 53.71%), 1951 (Perón 63.51%), both of 1973 (Cámpora 49.53% and Perón 61.86%), 1989 (Menem 47.51%) and 1995 (Menem 49.94%), center-left Peronism in 2003 (Kirchner* 22.25%), 2007 (Cristina Kirchner 45.28%), 2011 (Cristina Kirchner 54.11%), and 2019 (Alberto Fernández: 48.28%). It lost the elections of 1983 (Luder: 40.16%), 1999 (Duhalde), 2015 (Scioli 48.66%) and 2023 (Sergio Massa 44.35% and Juan Schiaretti 6.78%). It was overthrown twice by military coups — in 1955 and 1976 — and declared illegal by the self-proclaimed «Revolutionary Liberation» dictatorship that took power in 1955, with the ban remaining until 1972 and for Perón until 1973
