En esta tesis se reconstruye y analiza la constitución, desarrollo y trayectoria de la Junta Coordinadora Nacional de la Juventud Radical entre los años 1968 y 1981. Los jóvenes radicales ejercieron un rol significativo en los años setenta tanto en las universidades, a través de Franja Morada, como en la Unión Cívica Radical a partir de su participación en la construcción del Movimiento de Renovación y Cambio. La Coordinadora fue un espacio creado por jóvenes de clase media, en la mayoría de los casos estudiantes universitarios, con el fin de reorganizar y articular a las agrupaciones juveniles de distintas provincias que, a fines de la década de 1960, decían adherir al ideario radical. El pensamiento de raíz nacional-popular, su oposición a la conducción balbinista y el deseo de modernizar el discurso del radicalismo y de reorganizar sus sectores juveniles son tres elementos distintivos de aquella organización. Considerando la imposibilidad de comprender la experiencia de la Coordinadora en toda su dimensión sin contemplar en simultáneo lo que estaba ocurriendo en aquel entonces en el resto del partido radical, esta tesis contiene a su vez una detallada reconstrucción de la trayectoria de la Unión Cívica Radical en los años sesenta y setenta del siglo pasado. Durante aquel período, el radicalismo asistió a una prolongada transición entre la corriente intransigente corporizada en la figura de Ricardo Balbín y el ascendiente espacio renovador que, liderado por Raúl Alfonsín, en la década del ochenta accedería al control del organigrama partidario. El análisis de la constitución y desarrollo de la Junta Coordinadora Nacional es un sendero a través de cuyo recorrido se aspira a contribuir con las investigaciones referidas a una etapa álgida de la historia argentina. Dada la incidencia que la Unión Cívica Radical en general y algunos fundadores de la Coordinadora en particular tendrían durante los años de la transición democrática, la reconstrucción de aquella experiencia contribuye también con los estudios sobre la primera etapa del ciclo postdictatorial al aportar tanto información como nuevas lecturas sobre las trayectorias e ideas de algunos de los protagonistas de la década del ochenta en Argentina. / This thesis reconstructs and analyzes the constitution, development and trajectory of the Junta Coordinadora Nacional [National Coordinating Board] of the Juventud Radical [Radical Youth] between 1968 and 1981. Young radicals played a significant role in the 1970s both in universities, through the Franja Morada, and through their participation in the construction of the Movimiento de Renovación y Cambio [Movement of Renewal and Change]. The Coordinadora was a space created by young middle-class people –university students, most of them– with the purpose of reorganizing and articulating the youth groups of different provinces that, in the late 1960s, claimed to adhere to the radical ideology. National-popular thinking, its opposition to the balbinist leadership and the desire to modernize the discourse of radicalism and reorganize its youth sectors characterized that organization. Considering the impossibility of understanding the experience of the Coordinadora in all its dimension without simultaneously considering what was happening at the time in the rest of the radical party, this thesis contains in turn a detailed reconstruction of the Unión Cívica Radical [Radical Civic Union] during the 1960s and 1970s. In those decades, radicalism witnessed a prolonged transition between the intransigent current embodied in the figure of Ricardo Balbín and the ascendant renovating space that, led by Raúl Alfonsín, would accede in the eighties to the control of the party organization chart. The analysis of the Junta Coordinadora Nacional is a path through which it is hoped to contribute to the studies on a high stage of Argentine history. Considering the impact that the Unión Cívica Radical in general and some founders of the Coordinadora in particular would have during the years of the democratic transition, the reconstruction of that experience also contributes to the studies on the first stage of the postdictatorship cycle by providing information on the trajectories nnd ideas of some of the protagonists of the eighties in Argentina.

Dans un contexte d'instabilité des organisations partisanes et une performance électorale en déclin, cette thèse cherche à expliquer comment et pourquoi l'UCR a survécu dans le système politique argentin. La réponse présentée tente de compléter une explication de caractère agentiel et l'autre de caractère structurel. L'UCR a réussi à survivre en fournissant à leurs dirigeants des ressources tant organisationnelles qu'institutionnelles, selon lesquelles les radicaux développent alternativement de nombreuses stratégies (par rapport à l'électorat et à leurs pairs). Ceci se déroule dans le cadre d'une organisation territoriale à plusieurs niveaux qui permet d'une part la coexistence de ces stratégies et d'autre part, qui rassemble et favorise la formation de coalitions nationales pour concourir aux élections présidentielles et être ainsi plus compétitifs. L'argument se déroule en sept chapitres. L'introduction fait une revue de littérature, présente l'argument et méthodologie. Le deuxième chapitre décrit le cadre institutionnel et ses effets; le troisième retrace la construction de liens avec la société, le quatrième caractérise les leaders, leurs espaces sociaux, intérêts et considérations et présente également les ressources disponibles et les stratégies développées à cet égard qui seront décrites plus détaillée dans les deux chapitres suivants. Le dernier chapitre démontre, à partir de l'analyse des trois dirigeants, leurs ressources, carrières et stratégies, la façon dont tous les éléments sont mis en jeu et interagissent, prenant en compte leur survie. Enfin, certaines conclusions sont présentées dans le but d'élargir et généraliser les idées au-delà de l'étude de cas. / In a context of instability and breakdowns of party organizations in Latin America and given the decline in its performance in national elections in recent decades, coupled with the importance of knowing the inner functioning of political parties, this dissertation seeks to explain how and why the Unión Cívica Radical (UCR) has survived in the past 30 years, and how and why it has continued competing over time for the various representative positions in the Argentine political system. The tentative answer presented here complements an explanation of an agential character with a more structural one. The UCR bas managed to survive as a national organization because it provides its leaders with organizational and institutional resources which Radicals alternately consider in order to develop different strategies (towards constituents and their colleagues) within the framework of a multilevel structure that facilitates the coexistence of even contradictory strategies and alliances. At the same time, this brings the party together over expectations of forming a national government, promoting the development of national interests, lines and coalitions to compete for the presidency. It combines an agential type response (considering various strategies according to available resources that contribute to the survival of Radical leaders) with a more structural one, concerning the resources available to the party leaders and how the effects of the federal multilevel organization facilitate organizational survival. Radical leaders have at their disposal institutional resources -which derive from the control of the state apparatus, allowing them to distribute private goods and develop strategies of patronage and pragmatic alliances; additionally, they possess organizational resources -as a territorially extended bureaucratic structure, a political program and ferrous linkages to external organizations. They predominantly use one or the other depending on their availability, which mainly derives from whether or not they hold the administration, acting alternately as government or partisan leaders. In this sense, what differentiates the UCR from other national party organizations in the country is that whether or not it is electorally successful, it survives and not only at the provincial and/or municipal level, but also nationally. Even outside the government, Radicals are committed to the survival of the party, especially given its Radical political socialization and identity. At the same time, the organizational structure and resources of the university -both of national and federal in character- keeps them not only committed but also interested in keeping things this way. Considering other national parties, the Partido Justicialista does not have the bureaucratic structure and the relation that Radicalism bas with the university, while the Partido Socialista lacks the experience of exercising national government power. Finally, it can be added that in the case of provincial ruling parties, their influence does not exceed their districts' boundaries.