Civilista Party

The Civilista Party (Spanish: Partido Civil, PC) was a political party in Peru.

History

Founded as a countermeasure against the growing power of the military in Peru during the first half of the Republic, the party's sole purpose was to establish a civilian rule in the country. This, however, did not prevent them from creating political alliances with the military during its first years of existence. Founded in 1872, the party's first candidate was its founder, Manuel Pardo, who was elected on August 2, 1872.

During the 1870s, economic growth and a certain degree of political stability had laid the conditions for creating the country's first political party. It was also a new era of international trade, business, and finance that Peru was benefiting from. Some believed that this era required the managerial skills that an educated and professional Elite could provide and believed Manuel Pardo was apt for this job. Under Pardo, the Civilistas pursued fiscal and administrative reforms, expanded public education, created the college for the bureaucracy and a school for naval officers, and established a National Guard with merit-based promotion rules.

The Civilista Party was first primarily composed of the newly rich merchants, planters, and businesspeople in Peru (especially those who benefited themselves with the Guano Boom exportations). The members of the party believed that the military was corrupt and no longer capable of ruling the country and that it was more apt to serve it militarily than to rule it politically.