Strategy and rationality of the presidential candidates in the Peruvian elections 2011: why four are less than one

Abstract

A poorly institutionalized party system and a high volatility of the electorate is the setting in which Peruvian elections have been developed for decades. From a case study that analyzes the strategies and political rationality of the candidates, we demonstrate that the triumph of Ollanta Humala is explained by the non-cooperation among the right wing candidates in the first round, the learning of Humala that led him to moderate his speech, and the failure of the strategy of ‘fujimorism’ to enchant the political center