Capturing the Banner of Batlissmo: The Frente Amplio and the End of Uruguay's Two-Party System

Author

Kelly Ann Usher

Date of Award

2009

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Croft Institute for International Studies

First Advisor

Oliver Dinius

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

This paper looks at the 2004 presidential victory of the Frente Amplio in Uruguay, as well as the party’s development since 1971 to explain how it became victorious. The paper will also investigate what changes the two traditionally dominant political parties have undergone in response to the Frente Amplio’s rise. Uruguayan political science magazines and documents from the political parties themselves form the foundation of this work, supplemented by research from books and academic writings. Research showed that although the Frente Amplio started out as a radical leftist group, it was able to become moderate and use political means of opposition rather than violent means. The moderate left ideology espoused today by the Frente Amplio is defined by batilismo, a Uruguayan political philosophy developed in the early 1900s and still so strong today voters will switch parties to continue to uphold it. The Frente Amplio was able to build substantial voter support and victory largely as a result of its adoption of batllismo. As a result, the two traditionally dominant parties have undergone an ideological shift to the right and now show high levels of cooperation and voter sharing. Although the system is now a three-party system, the traditional parties occupy nearly the same space on the ideological spectrum and function as one focus of opposition to the left, as if it were a two-party system. In conclusion, the 2004 Frente Amplio victory was not a change so much as it was continuity with the batllista system in place in Uruguay since the early 1900s, although it did create ideological change within the other two parties.

Recommended Citation

Usher, Kelly Ann, "Capturing the Banner of Batlissmo: The Frente Amplio and the End of Uruguay's Two-Party System" (2009). Honors Theses. 2448.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/2448

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