1) Introduction
"Ambition lies at the heart of politics"
Joseph Schlesinger, 1966
"I know that, after all this, I'm a political corpse"
Deputy Agustin Rossi, 2008, leader of the Peronist majority, after backing a
presidential bill rejected by most of his province's inhabitants
Ambition is one of the main engines of political activity. Broadly understood,
every single subject must have had some degree of ambition as a motivation of, at least,
some activity in life. People can be ambitious at pushing for economic improvement, at
expecting a new job, at trying to be drafted by an NBA team or at trying to make а
dissertation as good as possible. Attempts to attain a higher order-goal seem not only
almost "natural" for individuals and groups, but also profitable. If expectations of
improvement are almost a necessary condition for success in the modem (or
postmodern?) era, why should they be absent in politics?
Politicians are not usually the most praised individuals in democratic societies.
Thus, political ambition can often be understood as desires of becoming a king, a queen,
an emperor, or simply a multi-billionaire. However, as much as the mentioned
Schlesinger is recognized as a serious and honest scholar (as nobody has denied it), the
concept of ambition must be understood as much more than mere latent corrupt
tendencies. Ambitious politicians have goals in mind and act in consequence. As in life,
sometimes their first preferences are attained (i.e. some individuals have become
presidents or prime ministers); some other times, people fail in their attempts; or some
other subjects may enact a suboptimal strategy, in order to avoid ending up without