Adolfo Alsina
Adolfo Alsina Maza was an Argentine lawyer and Unitarian politician, one of the founders of the Partido Autonomista and the National Autonomist Party. Alsina was born in the son of Unitarian politician Valentín Alsina and Antonia Maza, he moved to Montevideo, Uruguay when Juan Manuel de Rosas became Governor of Buenos Aires Province for the second time, in 1835. In the neighbouring country Alsina started his law studies. After the Battle of Caseros in 1852, his family returned to Argentina, his father was named a Minister by president Vicente López y Planes. Adolfo joined the Unitarian army in the civil war. In 1860, after the Battle of Pavón and the National Union Pact, he took part in the commission responsible for the constitution reform of 1860, he was elected a deputy in 1862. When the subject of federalisation, supported by Bartolomé Mitre, was considered in the Chamber of Deputies, Alsina provoked a split in the Partido Unitario and founded the Partido Autonomista. In 1866 he was elected governor of the Buenos Aires Province.
Alsina considered running for president, but withdrew when he discovered he did not have the support of most of the province. Domingo Sarmiento was elected president, named Alsina his vice-president; when the presidency of Sarmiento finished in 1874, Alsina joined Nicolás Avellaneda to create the Partido Autonomista Nacional, through which Avellaneda reached the presidency and named Alsina Minister of War and Navy. At the end of 1875, the Native Americans of Patagonia and the Pampas the Mapuche, launched organised resistance against the territorial expansion of the southern border of the emerging nation; the first stage of the "Conquest of the Desert" began with the creation of a two meter deep, three meter wide trench called zanja de Alsina to prevent the free movement of horses and stolen cattle. Alsina ordered the creation of forts intercommunicated by telegraph. Trying to understand the native peoples, he decided to study the situation personally.
Pampas
The Pampas are fertile South American lowlands that cover more than 750,000 km2 and include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos and Córdoba. The vast plains are a natural region, interrupted only by the low Ventana and Tandil hills, near Bahía Blanca and Tandil, with a height of 1,300 m and 500 m, respectively; the climate is temperate, with precipitation of 600 to 1,200 mm, more or less evenly distributed through the year, making the soils appropriate for agriculture. The area is one of the distinct physiography provinces of the larger Paraná-Paraguay Plain division; the climate of the Pampas is temperate giving away to a more subtropical climate in the north and to a semiarid climate on the western fringes. Summer temperatures are more uniform than winter temperatures ranging from 28 to 33 °C during the day. However, most cities in the Pampas have high temperatures that push 38 °C, as occurs when a warm, northerly wind blows from southern Brazil. Autumn arrives in March, peaks in April and May.
In April, highs range from 20 to 25 °C and lows from 9 to 13 °C. The first frosts arrive in mid-April in the south, in late May or early June in the north. Winters are mild, but cold waves still occur. Normal temperatures range from 12 to 19 °C during the day, from 1 to 6 °C at night. With strong northerly winds, days of over 25 °C can be recorded everywhere, during cold waves, high temperatures can be only 6 °C. Frost occurs everywhere in the Pampas, but it is much more frequent in the southwest than around the Parana and Uruguay Rivers. Temperatures under −5 °C can occur everywhere, but values of −10 °C or lower are confined to the south and west. Snow never falls in the northernmost third and is rare and light elsewhere, except for exceptional events in which depths have reached 30 cm. Springs are variable. Violent storms are more common as well as wide temperature variations: days of 35 °C can give way to nights of under 5 °C or frost, all within only a few days. Precipitation ranges from 1,200 mm in the northeast, to about 500 mm in the southern and western edges.
In the west, it is seasonal, with some places recording averages of 120 mm monthly in the summer, only 20 millimetres monthly in the winter. The eastern areas have small peaks in the fall and in the spring, with rainy summers and winters that are only drier. However, where summer rain falls as short, heavy storms, winter rain falls as cold drizzle and so the amount of rainy days is constant. Intense thunderstorms are common in the spring and summer, it has among the most frequent lightning and highest convective cloud tops in the world; the severe thunderstorms produce intense hailstorms, both floods and flash floods, as well as the most active tornado region outside the central and southeastern US. Herbivores of the pampas are the pampas deer, gray brocket, dwarf mara, plains viscacha, Brazilian guinea pig, southern mountain cavy and coypu; the biggest predator of the region is the puma followed by the maned wolf, pampas fox, geoffroy's cat, lesser grison as well as the omnivorous white-eared opossum and molinas hog-nosed skunk.
Bird species of the pampas are ruddy-headed goose, pampas meadowlark, hudsonian godwit, maguari stork, white-faced ibis, white-winged coot, southern screamer, dot-winged crake, curve-billed reedhaunter, burrowing owl and the rhea. Frequent wildfires ensure that only small plants such as grasses flourish, trees are less common; the dominant vegetation types are grassy prairie and grass steppe in which numerous species of the grass genus Stipa are conspicuous. "Pampas grass" is an iconic species of the Pampas. Vegetation includes perennial grasses and herbs. Different strata of grasses occur because of gradients of water availability; the World Wildlife Fund divides the Pampas into three distinct ecoregions. The Uruguayan Savanna lies east of the Parana River, includes all of Uruguay, most of Entre Ríos and Corrientes provinces in Argentina, the southern portion of Brazil's state of Rio Grande do Sul; the Humid Pampas include eastern Buenos Aires Province, southern Entre Ríos Province. The Semiarid Pampas includes western Buenos Aires Province and adjacent portions of Santa Fe, Córdoba, La Pampa provinces.
The Pampas are bounded by the drier Argentine espinal grasslands, which form a semicircle around the north and south of the Humid Pampas. Winters are cool to mild and summers are warm and humid. Rainfall is uniform throughout the year, but is a little heavier during the summer. Annual rainfall is heaviest near the coast and decreases further inland. Rain during the late spring and summer arrives in the form of brief heavy showers and thunderstorms. More general rainfall occurs the remainder of the year as cold fronts and storm systems move through. Although cold spells during the winter send nighttime temperatures below freezing, snow is quite rare. In most winters, a few light snowfalls occur over inland areas. Central Argentina boasts a successful agricultural business, with crops grown on the Pampas south and west of Buenos Aires. Much of the area is used for
Sáenz Peña Law
The Sáenz Peña Law was Law 8871 of Argentina, sanctioned by the National Congress on 10 February 1912, which established the universal and compulsory male suffrage though the creation of an electoral list. It was approved during the presidency of main supporter of the law; the right to vote for females was not covered by this law until 1947, during the first presidency of Juan Perón. The "universal" scope of the original law included only native and naturalized men but not women and working class men who were non-citizen immigrants, a significant portion of the population at the time. Indeed, in Buenos Aires in 1914, 49% of the population was foreign born. In the entire country, 30% of all residents were foreign born according to the 1914 national census. Sáenz Peña made his intentions about the voting system public during his first speech before the National Congress, in 1910. Interior Minister Indalecio Gómez proposed a reform that left the compilation of the electoral list in the hands of the War Ministry, the judicial branch was put in charge of dictating who would organize the elections and who would be allowed to vote.
That deprived the executive branch of its former ability to manipulate the electoral list. The conservatives, who had stayed in power for decades through dubious and fraudulent elections, could not consolidate a political party without popular support. Hipólito Yrigoyen, the candidate of the Radical Civic Union, won the first presidential elections after the new law by a considerable distance, the UCR became the most powerful political force; as a consequence of the law, all political parties had to reorganize themselves, revising their regulations, creating electoral platforms, opening local seats and periodically gathering in assemblies. Sucesos Históricos Argentinos
Federalism
Federalism is the mixed or compound mode of government, combining a general government with regional governments in a single political system. Its distinctive feature, exemplified in the founding example of modern federalism by the United States under the Constitution of 1787, is a relationship of parity between the two levels of government established, it can thus be defined as a form of government in which there is a division of powers between two levels of government of equal status. Federalism differs from confederalism, in which the general level of government is subordinate to the regional level, from devolution within a unitary state, in which the regional level of government is subordinate to the general level, it represents the central form in the pathway of regional integration or separation, bounded on the less integrated side by confederalism and on the more integrated side by devolution within a unitary state. Leading examples of the federation or federal state include India, the United States, Mexico, Germany, Switzerland and Australia.
Some today characterize the European Union as the pioneering example of federalism in a multi-state setting, in a concept termed the federal union of states. The terms'federalism' and'confederalism' both have a root in the Latin word foedus, meaning "treaty, pact or covenant." Their common meaning until the late eighteenth century was a simple league or inter-governmental relationship among sovereign states based upon a treaty. They were therefore synonyms, it was in this sense that James Madison in Federalist 39 had referred to the new US Constitution as'neither a national nor a federal Constitution, but a composition of both'. In the course of the nineteenth century the meaning of federalism would come to shift, strengthening to refer uniquely to the novel compound political form established, while the meaning of confederalism would remain at a league of states. Thus, this article relates to the modern usage of the word'federalism'. Modern federalism is a system based upon democratic rules and institutions in which the power to govern is shared between national and provincial/state governments.
The term federalist describes several political beliefs around the world depending on context. Federalism is sometimes viewed as in the context of international negotiation as "the best system for integrating diverse nations, ethnic groups, or combatant parties, all of whom may have cause to fear control by an overly powerful center." However, in some countries, those skeptical of federal prescriptions believe that increased regional autonomy is to lead to secession or dissolution of the nation. In Syria, federalization proposals have failed in part because "Syrians fear that these borders could turn out to be the same as the ones that the fighting parties have carved out."Federations such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia collapsed as soon as it was possible to put the model to the test. According to Daniel Ziblatt's Structuring the State, there are four competing theoretical explanations in the academic literature for the adoption of federal systems: Ideational theories, which hold that a greater degree of ideological commitment to decentralist ideas in society makes federalism more to be adopted.
Cultural-historical theories, which hold that federal institutions are more to be adopted in societies with culturally or ethnically fragmented populations. "Social contract" theories, which hold that federalism emerges as a bargain between a center and a periphery where the center is not powerful enough to dominate the periphery and the periphery is not powerful enough to secede from the center. "Infrastructural power" theories, which hold that federalism is to emerge when the subunits of a potential federation have developed infrastructures. Immanuel Kant was an advocate of federalism, noting that "the problem of setting up a state can be solved by a nation of devils" so long as they possess an appropriate constitution which pits opposing factions against each other with a system of checks and balances. In particular individual states required a federation as a safeguard against the possibility of war. On the 1st of January 1901 the nation-state of Australia came into existence as a federation.
The Australian continent was colonised by the United Kingdom in 1788, which subsequently established six self-governing, colonies there. In the 1890s the governments of these colonies all held referendums on becoming the unified, self-governing "Commonwealth of Australia" within the British Empire; when all the colonies voted in favour of federation, the Federation of Australia commenced, resulting in the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. The model of Australian federalism adheres to the original model of the United States of America, although it does so through a parliamentary Westminster system rather than a presidential system. In Brazil, the fall of the monarchy in 1889 by a military coup d'état led to the rise of the presidential system, headed by Deodoro da Fonseca. Aided by well-known jurist Ruy Barbosa, Fonseca established federalism in Brazil by decree, but this system of government would be confirmed by every Brazilian constitution since 1891, although some of them would distort some of the federalist principles.
The 1937 federal government had the authority to appoint State Governors at will, thus centralizing power in the hands of P
Elections in Argentina
This article is about voting and election results in Argentina. For details of Argentine government institutions and political parties, see Politics of Argentina. At the national level, Argentina elects a head of a legislature; the franchise extends to all citizens aged 16 and over, voting is mandatory for all those who are between 18 and 70 years of age. The President and the Vice-President are elected in one ballot, for a four-year term, by direct popular vote, using a runoff voting system: there must be a second round if no formula gets more than 45% of the affirmative valid votes, or more than 40% of the affirmative valid votes with a difference of 10 percentage points from the second formula, in quantity of affirmative valid votes. Before the 1995 election, the President and Vice-President were both elected by an electoral college; the National Congress has two chambers. The Chamber of Deputies of the Nation has 257 members, elected for a four-year term in each electoral district by proportional representation using the D'Hondt method, with half of the seats renewed every two years in all districts.
The Senate of the Nation has 72 members, elected for a six-year term in three-seat constituencies for a six-year term, with two seats awarded to the largest party or coalition and one seat to the second largest party or coalition. One-third of the constituencies are renewed every two years. In 2001 the whole senate was renewed. A quota law lays down that at least a third of the candidates on the ballots presented by each party participating in legislative elections must be women. Political parties in Argentina Electoral calendar Electoral system Election Atlas of Argentina from 1983 Adam Carr's Election Archive Argentina Elections 2007 Argentina Elections 101
Victorino de la Plaza
Victorino de la Plaza y Palacios was President of Argentina from 9 August 1914 to 11 October 1916. Second son of José Roque Mariano de la Plaza Elejalde and Manuela de la Silva Palacios, he studied law in Buenos Aires and obtained his doctorate in 1868. Was secretary of Dalmacio Vélez Sársfield and collaborated on the writing of the Argentine Civil Code. Was Treasury Minister under Nicolás Avellaneda Interventor in Corrientes Province and Foreign Minister and Treasury during the first Julio Argentino Roca administration. Was elected vice president for the National Union presided by Roque Sáenz Peña in 1910, he assumed the presidency after the death of Sáenz Peña and governed between 1914 and 1916. He died of pneumonia after retiring from politics. Works by or about Victorino de la Plaza at Internet Archive
Nicolás Avellaneda
Nicolás Remigio Aurelio Avellaneda Silva was an Argentine politician and journalist, president of Argentina from 1874 to 1880. Avellaneda's main projects while in office were banking and education reform, leading to Argentina's economic growth; the most important events of his government were the Conquest of the Desert and the transformation of the City of Buenos Aires into a federal district. Born in San Miguel de Tucumán, his mother moved with him to Bolivia after the death of his father, Marco Avellaneda, during a revolt against Juan Manuel de Rosas, he studied law without graduating. Back at Tucumán he founded El Eco del Norte, moved to Buenos Aires in 1857, becoming director of the El Nacional and editor of El Comercio de la Plata, he finished his studies at Buenos Aires. Sarmiento helped him to become teacher of economy at the University of Buenos Aires, he wrote "Estudio sobre las leyes de tierras públicas", proposing to give the lands to producers that make production from them. This system, similar to the one employed at the United States, suggested to reduce bureaucracy and pointed that this would allow stable populations and population growth.
He was a member of the house of representatives in 1859 and Minister of Government of Adolfo Alsina in the Buenos Aires province in 1866. During Domingo Faustino Sarmiento's presidency, he was Minister of Education, he implemented the educational reform, defining of his government. Avellaneda attained the presidency in 1874 but had its legitimacy contested by Bartolomé Mitre and supported by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento. Mitre was defeated by Julio Argentino Roca. Mitre was held prisoner and judged by military justice, but Avellaneda indulted him in order to promote pacification, he included Rufino de Elizalde and José María Gutiérrez, supporters of Mitre, as members of his cabinet. In line with people like Alberdi or Sarmiento, who thought that European immigration was crucial to the Argentine development, he promoted the "Avellaneda law" that allowed European farmers ease to get terrains; the immigration numbers were doubled in a few years. Having won the revolution and bringing peace to the country, Avellaneda faced the serious economic crisis, centering his efforts on the control of the land with the Conquest of the Desert and expanding the railroads, the cereal and meat exports, the European immigration, specially to Patagonia.
During his presidency, the economy of Argentina was affected by the European crisis putting the country on the edge of debt default. Deciding to take Argentina from its debts, he said that "there are two million Argentines who would economize to their hunger and thirst to fulfill the promises of our public commitments in the foreign markets", he applied a weak protectionism. The crisis was fixed with the growing exports of refrigerated meat to Europe, a new developing industrial method of the time. A prolific writer, his works have been published in 12 volumes. Aged 37, he was the youngest Argentine president elected, he had served in the Argentine Senate for five months in 1874 and returned to the Senate in 1883 until his death. He died on a ship returning from medical treatment in France. Mendelevich, Pablo. El Final. Buenos Aires: Ediciones B. ISBN 978-987-627-166-0. Nicolás Avellaneda at Find a Grave
