From the tables of Buenos Aires pizza parlors to the fields of this South American nation’s farmlands, Argentines are intensely debating a question they must answer during Sunday’s presidential runoff election: How large a role should the government play in their lives?

At the center of the debate is the contentious legacy of outgoing President Cristina Fernandez and “Kirchnerismo,” the political movement aligned with the poor that she created with her late husband and predecessor, Nestor Kirchner.