It was born from the alliance of the Radical Civic Union, the Front for a Country in Solidarity (FREPASO) and several smaller provincial parties in 1997.

In the 1999 general elections, the alliance put forward Fernando de la Rúa (UCR), who together with Carlos Álvarez (FREPASO) as his running mate, defeated Buenos Aires Governor and former Vice President under Menem Eduardo Duhalde (PJ).

[8] The Alliance presented itself as a progressive, moderate centre-left alternative to Menem's neoliberal government (stemming from the ideologies of the FREPASO and the UCR's pro-social democracy wing), with a mandate to end corruption and unemployment.

However, De la Rúa soon revealed himself as unable or unwilling to tackle corruption and to revive the Argentine economy, which was in a recession, with innovative measures, and De la Rúa's own conservative wing within the UCR soon overtook the Alliance.

In 2000, amid a scandal caused by accusations of bribery involving UCR senators and members of the cabinet, Álvarez resigned from the vice presidency, gravely hurting the unity of the Alliance.