Sistema de partidos, fragmentación de la competencia y tasas de reforma estatal. Una aproximación ilustrativa desde el caso argentino

An important thesis of political science argues that the decision-making capacity of a government is related to the degree of fragmentation of the party system. Paradoxically, in the early ‘90s the fragmentation of the Argentinean party system increased while fundamental changes in public policy were taking place. The research is aimed to explore the link between these two dimensions. The investigation results show that through a proper characterization of party systems it is possible to overcome the initial paradox and restore the validity of the prevailing thesis, with an amendment: the degree of fragmentation of governmental levels of the party system affects the decision-making capacity of the governments.