Argentina -
Politics
Government:
Argentina's political framework is a federal presidential representative
democratic republic, in which the President of Argentina is both head of
state and head of government, complemented by a pluriform multi-party system.
The Argentine Constitution of 1853 mandates a separation of powers into
executive, legislative, and judicial branches at the national and provincial
level.
Executive power resides in the President and his cabinet. The President and
Vice President are directly elected to four-year terms, limited to two
consecutive terms, and the cabinet ministers are appointed by the president.
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Legislative power is vested in the bicameral National Congress or Congreso
de la Nación, consisting of a Senate (Senado) of seventy-two seats, and a
Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados) of 257 members.
Senators serve six-year terms, with one-third standing for reelection every
two years. Members of the Chamber of Deputies are directly elected to four-year
term via a system of proportional representation, with half of the members
of the lower house being elected every two years. A third of the candidates
presented by the parties must be women. |
The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The
Argentine Supreme Court of Justice has seven members who are appointed by
the President in consultation with the Senate. The rest of the judges are
appointed by the Council of Magistrates of the Nation, a secretariat
composed of representatives of judges, lawyers, the Congress, and the
executive.
Foreign relations:
Argentina is a member of Mercosur, an international bloc which has some
legislative supranational functions. Mercosur is composed of five full
members: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela. It has five
associate members without full voting rights: Bolivia, Chile, Colombia,
Ecuador, and Peru.
Argentina was the only country from Latin America to participate in the 1991
Gulf War under mandate of the United Nations. It was also the only Latin
American country involved in every phase of the Haiti operation. Argentina
has contributed worldwide to peacekeeping operations, including in El
Salvador-Honduras-Nicaragua, Guatemala, Ecuador-Peru, Western Sahara,
Angola, Kuwait, Cyprus, Croatia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Timor Leste. In
recognition of its contributions to international security, U.S. President
Bill Clinton designated Argentina as a major non-NATO ally in January 1998.
In 2005, it was elected as a temporary member of the UN Security Council.
In 1977 – and again as recently as in 2006 – Argentina's Chamber of Deputies
unanimously called for Puerto Rico's national independence. Aimed at the
United States, this demand has been particularly championed by ex-President
Raúl Alfonsín, as well as the current President of Argentina, Cristina Kirchner
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In 1993, Argentina launched the United Nations White Helmets indicative of
humanitarian aid.
On November 4-November 5, 2005, the Argentine city of Mar del Plata hosted
the Fourth Summit of the Americas. This summit was marked by a number of
anti-U.S. protests. As of 2006, Argentina has been emphasizing Mercosur as
its first international priority; by contrast, during the 1990s, it relied
more heavily on its relationship with the United States.
Argentina has long claimed sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Islas
Malvinas), the South Shetland Islands, the South Sandwich Islands and almost
1 million km² in Antarctica, between the 25°W and the 74°W meridians and the
60°S parallel. For more than a century, there has been an Argentine presence
at the Orcadas Base.
Argentina is a founding signatory and permanent consulting member of the
Antarctic Treaty System and the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat is established
in Buenos Aires.
Military:
Argentina's armed forces are controlled by the Defense Ministry, with the
country's President as their Commander-in-Chief. Historically, Argentina's
military has been one of the best equipped in the region (for example,
developing its own advanced jet fighters as early as the 1950s), but has
faced expenditure cutbacks in comparison to other regional militaries. The
age of allowable military service is 18 years; there is no obligatory
military service and currently no conscription.
The armed forces are composed of a traditional Army, Navy, and Air Force.
Controlled by a separate ministry (the Interior Ministry), Argentine
territorial waters are patrolled by the Naval Prefecture, and the border
regions by the National Gendarmerie; both arms however maintain liaison with
the Defense Ministry. Argentina's Armed Forces are currently undertaking
major operations in Haiti and Cyprus, in accordance with UN mandates.
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