Roberto Saba & Steven Levitsky: Elections Have Consequences—Just Ask Argentina

Argentina’s constitution is among the oldest democratic constitutions in the world, and in significant respects it was modeled after the constitution of the United States. But Argentine democracy hasn’t always been stable. Between the 1930s and 1970s, the government was overturned by military coups six times. Even when there have been free and fair elections, some elected leaders have governed as authoritarians. This experience of dictatorship is a source of trauma for Argentinian citizens—and also a source for the rebuilding and resilience of democracy since 1983. This conversation with Roberto Saba and Steven Levitsky explores the history of Argentine democracy and some of the parallels the country shares with the United States. Roberto Saba obtained his law degree (JD) at Buenos Aires University and his Master’s (LLM) and doctoral (JSD) degrees at Yale Law School. He was the cofounder of the Association for Civil Rights (an organization inspired by the American ACLU) and served as its executive director (2000-2009). He was also executive director of Citizen Power Foundation, Transparency International’s Chapter in Argentina (1995-1998), and dean of Palermo University School of Law (2009-2016). Saba is currently a professor of constitutional law at Buenos Aires University and at Palermo University Law Schools. Saba has published on a wide variety of subjects, including deliberative democracy, judicial review, constitutional theory, freedom of expression, freedom of information and structural inequality. His connection with the Kettering Foundation began in 1992, when he served as an international fellow at the foundation. Since then, he has participated in numerous Kettering seminars and workshops. He is currently a board member of the Charles F. Kettering Foundation. Steven Levitsky is David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies and professor of government at Harvard University, director of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard, and a senior fellow at the Kettering Foundation. His research focuses on democracy and authoritarianism. He and Daniel Ziblatt are authors of How Democracies Die (2018) and Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point (2023), both of which were New York Times bestsellers.