Crisis y recomposición del Estado

the argentine crisis of late 2001 and early 2002 could be viewed as the result of a long-term disintegration process of some of the pillars that had sustained social and political order during the previous decade. first, the end of a key feature of economic policy in the 90s: the conver- tibility act. second, the weakening of the upward mobility paradigm, low poverty margins, and a state committed to decreasing marginality and exclusion. and finally, a process of social disaffection to politics which also had a strong impact on these events. the self-referentiality of argentine politics, generalized suspicions of corruption, and a lack of political resolve to take measures that would contradict the allegedly almighty "market," generated an environment of apathy or straightforward hostility vis-à-vis the major political parties. with the partial exception of justicialismo (peronism), the latter were sorely punished in the 2001 elections. is it thus possible to speak of a new paradigm? this paper intends to point out the new goals in terms of public management in the argentine state, focusing on policies and programs that render this new concept operational.