This article explores how the interlocking of formal and informal political institutions has affected the dynamics and performance of the Argentine democracy. Key institutional features of the Argentine political system have been a competitive form of federalism, loosely structured and political parties that are not ideologically unified, neopatrimonial practices, and client list exchanges. These features have interacted with the pluralist political landscape resulting from the vertical and horizontal constitutional division of powers. In combination with the distribution of power resulting from electoral results at different levels of government, these features have severely constrained the possibilities for coordination in and across institutional arenas.