Federal Structure Of Argentina

- The federal structure of Argentina divides the country into 23 districts (known as provinces)
and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. Argentina is a presidential representative
democratic republic. The President is both Head of State and Head of the Government, and
executive power is exercised by the President. Legislative power is invested both in the
Executive and within the Argentinean National Congress, the bicameral legislative branch of
the government of Argentina.
- The president is the head of state, chief executive of the federal government, and commander-
in-chief of the armed forces. The vice president replaces the president in case of absence,
incapability, death, or resignation and also acts as the president of the senate. The president is
elected by a qualified majority. The vice president is appointed by the president.
- The supreme court is the highest court of law and functions as a last-resort tribunal, its rulings
cannot be appealed. It also decides on cases dealing with the interpretation of the constitution.
The members of the supreme court are appointed by the president with the agreement of at
least two-thirds of the present senate members.
- The Senate (Legislative) must introduce any changes to federal revenue-sharing policies,
ratify international treaties, approve changes to constitutional or federal criminal laws, as well
as confirm or impeach presidential nominees to the cabinet, the judiciary, the armed forces,
and the diplomatic corps. The chamber of deputies holds exclusive rights to levy taxes, draft
troops, and excuse the president, cabinet ministers, and members of the supreme court before
the senate. The senate has 72 members who are elected through a closed-list proportional
representation system. The chamber of deputies has 257 members that are elected through a
closed-list proportional representation system.
- The National Congress consists of the upper house – the Senate – and the lower house – the
Chamber of Deputies. Senators are elected to six-year terms by direct election on a provincial
basis, with the party that achieves the most votes awarded two of a province’s three seats in
the Senate, and the third going to the second-placed party. Members of the Chamber of
Deputies are elected to serve four-year terms. One-half of the members are elected every two
years by the people of each district using a proportional representation system.
- Each of the Argentinean provinces has its own constitution, laws, authorities, and forms of
government, but these institutions must first and foremost comply with the national
constitution and federal law. The government of each province has three branches: executive,
legislative, and judiciary. The executive branch is led by a governor, while the provincial
legislative branch may be organized in a bicameral or unicameral format. Each province, with
the exception of Buenos Aires Province, is divided into administrative divisions known as
departments, which are in turn divided into municipalities.

Sources: https://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/argentina/government
https://forumfed.org/countries/argentina/
Website Accessed Date: December 17th, 2022