Washington University Law Review Volume 71 Issue 4 A Tribute to Professor Merton C. Bernstein 1993 Constitutional Moments, Precommitment, and Fundamental Reform: The Case of Argentina Geoffrey P. Miller New York University Follow this and additional works at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_lawreview Part of the Comparative and Foreign Law Commons, Law and Economics Commons, and the Law and Politics Commons Recommended Citation Geoffrey P. Miller, Constitutional Moments, Precommitment, and Fundamental Reform: The Case of Argentina, 71 WASH. U. L. Q. 1061 (1993). Available at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_lawreview/vol71/iss4/12 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law School at Washington University Open Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Washington University Law Review by an authorized administrator of Washington University Open Scholarship. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. ARTICLES CONSTITUTIONAL MOMENTS, PRECOMMITMENT, AND FUNDAMENTAL REFORM: THE CASE OF ARGENTINA GEOFFREY P. MILLER7 I. INTRODUCTION For millions of Argentines who straggled into the voting booths from rain-drenched streets on May 14, 1989, the prospects for the future could hardly have looked drearier. The outgoing President, Radical Party leader Rafil Alfonsin, had guided the country toward a stable democracy. But, despite enormous efforts, Alfonsin's economic policies proved disastrous. Hyperinflation gripped the economy Argentina's enormous foreign debt was in default.' Gross domestic product was decreasing and purchasing power evaporating. The nation was falling into the Third World, even as other Latin-American countries-Chile, for example-surged toward prosperity. Fairly or not, Radical Party presidential candidate Edwardo Angeloz bore the onus for the catastrophe.