Are there two presidents in Argentina? A comparative analysis of legislative support for foreign and domestic policy (2001-2014)

This paper makes two contributions to the classical thesis in American Political Science on the existence of “two presidents”, as applied to the Argentine case. Analyzing rollcall votes for the recent period, we confirm the validity of the thesis in a markedly presidential and multiparty system. Furthermore, comparing international and domestic legislative topics, we analyze which factors affect the legislative support received by the president. Using robust regressions, we find that popular approval is positively associated with the level of support that the president received for domestic but not international initiatives. The use of Necessity and Urgency Decrees, the economy’s performance, the ideological polarization between the parties in Congress, and the chamber in which the initiative is submitted are all variables that affect legislative support.