ANTAGONISM, POLITICS AND PARTIES IN 19TH CENTURY ARGENTINE PROVINCES: CORDOBA AT THE END OF HIE 1870s

Studying a provincial case, this paper analyses political antagonism in Argentina around 1880, in the context of the consolidation of the power of the national state over the provinces. To that end, it reviews the methodological potential of the factionalism category. The use of this category to explain national politics underlines the lower limits of political toleranceatthe time and suggests that the political conflicts-were the result of disputes over powerthat generally lacked ideological content. Hozvever, the case analyzed here suggests that opposing ways of understanding republican politics and the role of political parties, as well as mechanisms to resolve disputes, coexisted during that period.