The Socialist Party is a social-democratic

Social democracy

Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...

 political party

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 in Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

.

The history of socialism

Socialism

Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

 in Argentina began in the 1890s, when a group of people, notably Juan B. Justo

Juan B. Justo

Juan Bautista Justo was an Argentine physician, journalist, politician, and writer. After finishing medical school he joined the Unión Cívica Radical, later participating in the foundation of the Socialist Party in 1896, of which he was chief director until his death...

, expressed the need for a greater social focus.

The Socialist Party itself was founded in 1896, led by Justo and Nicolás Repetto

Nicolás Repetto

Nicolás Repetto was an Argentine physician and leader of the Socialist Party of Argentina.-Biography:Nicolás Repetto was born in Buenos Aires in 1871 and enrolled at the prestigious Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires, a public college preparatory school. He was introduced to politics by a friend and...

. The party affiliated itself with the Second International

Second International

The Second International , the original Socialist International, was an organization of socialist and labour parties formed in Paris on July 14, 1889. At the Paris meeting delegations from 20 countries participated...

. Between 1924 and 1940 it was a member of the Labour and Socialist International

Labour and Socialist International

The Labour and Socialist International was an international organization of socialist and labour parties, active between 1923 and 1940. The LSI was a forerunner of the present-day Socialist International....

.

Through its life, the party suffered from various splits (the International Socialist Party, which became the Communist Party of Argentina

Communist Party of Argentina

The Communist Party of Argentina is a communist party from Argentina. It was founded in 1918.At the 2005 legislative elections, the Party joined the Encuentro Amplio with other left-wing parties in Buenos Aires and Buenos Aires Province...

) and the Independent Socialist Party were the most notable). The most important of those was in the 1960s, when the party divided itself in half, giving birth to the more radical Argentine Socialist Party

Authentic Socialist Party

The Authentic Socialist Party is a socialist political party in Argentina.Formed in the 1960s as a division of the Popular Socialist Party as the Argentine Socialist Party, it was forced to change its name in 1983 after the prohibition for political parties to have the terms National or Argentine...

 (Partido Socialista Argentino), and the more moderate Democratic Socialist Party

Democratic Socialist Party (Argentina)

The Democratic Socialist Party was a political party in Argentina formed in 1959 as a division of the Socialist Party.The most important figure of the PSD was Alfredo Bravo, a teacher and civil rights activist, which was a deputy and the presidential candidate of the Socialist Party in the 2003...

 (Partido Socialista Democrático). In 1966, two factions departed the PSA: Vanguardia Comunista and Partido Socialista de Vanguardia. In 1972, the remaining of the PSA together with other leftist groups formed the Popular Socialist Party

Popular Socialist Party (Argentina)

The Popular Socialist Party was a political party in Argentina formed in 1972 with the merger of the Argentine Socialist Party, the Movimiento de Acción Popular Argentino and other minor groups....

 (Partido Socialista Popular). The PSP and PSD were rejoined in 2002, forming the Socialist Party.

Among the socialist leaders of Argentina, the most remarkable are Alfredo Palacios

Alfredo Palacios

Alfredo Lorenzo Palacios was an Argentine socialist politician.Palacios was born in Buenos Aires, and studied law at Universidad de Buenos Aires, after graduation he became a lawyer and taught at the university until becoming a dean.In 1902, he was elected to the Buenos Aires' legislature, and in...

, who was the first socialist parliamentarian in the Americas

Americas

The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

 (1904) and a Senator

Argentine Senate

The Argentine Senate is the upper house of the Argentine National Congress. It has 72 senators: three for each province and three for the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires...

 in the 1960s; Juan B. Justo

Juan B. Justo

Juan Bautista Justo was an Argentine physician, journalist, politician, and writer. After finishing medical school he joined the Unión Cívica Radical, later participating in the foundation of the Socialist Party in 1896, of which he was chief director until his death...

, doctor, philosopher, writer and leader of the party until his death in 1928; Alicia Moreau de Justo

Alicia Moreau de Justo

Alicia Moreau de Justo was an Argentine physician, politician, pacifist and human rights activist.Born to French parents in London, United Kingdom, the Moreau family moved to Argentina while Alicia was still a child....

, (1895–1986), Justo's wife, who was for years the editor of the Socialist newspaper La Vanguardia; Guillermo Estévez Boero

Guillermo Estévez Boero

Guillermo Estévez Boero was an Argentine student activist, lawyer and Socialist politician.Estévez Boero was born in Rosario, Santa Fe Province, and studied Law at the National University of the Littoral, where he was a disciple of the Spanish criminal expert and President in exile of the Second...

, founder of the Popular Socialist Party; and Alfredo Bravo

Alfredo Bravo

Alfredo Bravo was an Argentine Socialist politician, teacher, leader of the teachers' union CTERA, human rights fighter, and legislator.-Life and times:...

, a teacher, unionist

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

, human rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

 militant and respected legislator in the last two decades of the 20th century (died 2003).

The Socialist Party of Argentina has not been a major choice for voters on the national level, but it maintains an electoral stronghold in the province of Santa Fe

Santa Fe Province

The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...

, and particularly in Rosario

Rosario

Rosario is the largest city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the western shore of the Paraná River and has 1,159,004 residents as of the ....

, where mayors have been socialists since 1989. Former two-term mayor Hermes Binner

Hermes Binner

Hermes Juan Binner is an Argentine medical doctor and a politician. He was elected Governor of Santa Fe in 2007. Binner is the first Socialist to become the governor of an Argentine province, and the first non-Justicialist to rule Santa Fe since 1983.Binner was previously a Deputy of the Civic and...

 slowly became acknowledged as a reference character for the party. In the 2005 parliamentary elections a Socialist-Radical alliance led by Binner won 5 seats in the national Lower House

Argentine Chamber of Deputies

The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress. This Chamber holds exclusive rights to create taxes, to draft troops, and to accuse the President, the ministers and the members of the Supreme Court before the Senate....

, and in the elections of 2007 Binner, leading a broad, centre-leftist political coalition (the Progressive, Civic and Social Front

Progressive, Civic and Social Front

The Progressive, Civic and Social Front is a provincial centre-left coalition in Argentina, based in Santa Fe Province. It is made up of the Socialist Party, the Support for an Egalitarian Republic , a faction of the Radical Civic Union, the Democratic Progressive Party , local factions of the...

), became the first Socialist to be elected governor of an Argentine province.

the current president of the party is Rubén Giustiniani

Rubén Giustiniani

Rubén Héctor Giustiniani is an Argentine senator from Santa Fe province. An engineer by occupation, he is also president of the Socialist Party ....

(Senator for Santa Fe).