Historically pluralism has ranked low in the hierarchy of Aegentine virtues. Power is respected above all things. All governments enjoy a supportive oficialista press. Political movements aspire to complete hegemony, including democratic parties like the Radical Civic Union. The lonely dissenter enjoys little respect in a society in which the practical outcome between success and failure is so enormous.

Among other things, this means that Argentines display a "herd instinct" that pushes them from one position to the other almost overnight, with no apparent contradiction. It explains how so many of the same people could favor the government of the Peróns, its overthrow by the military three years later, the counterterrorist campaign, the war in the South Atlantic, and the return to democracy in 1983.