Argentina’s constitution has been in place since 1853 and was last revised in 1994.
Over the past century, the Argentine government has seen a colourful political history with a mixture of military and elected presidents.
One of the most famous figures in the history of Argentina's government was Juan Domingo Perón who was particularly popular with the working classes. His second wife was the well known Evita Perón.
Much of the second half of the 20th century saw alternative military and civilian governments, including Jorge Rafael Videla’s military dictatorship of the period known as the ‘dirty war’, which lasted from 1976 to 1983.
Argentina was one of the first countries to introduce mandatory voting back in 1914.
Argentina Government Type | Republic |
Administration Divisions | 23 provinces and 1 autonomous city |
Voting Rights | Compulsory from age 18 |
Chief of State | Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has been President and Head of Government since 10 December 2007 |
Political Parties | Justicialist Party (PJ) Civic and Social Accord (ACyS) Civic Coalition (CC) Dissident Peronists (PJ Disidente - sector of the PJ party) Front for Victory (FpV), a broad coalition party including provincials Interbloque Federal (IF), a broad coalition party of approx. 12 parties Radical Civic Union (UCR) Republican Proposal (PRO) Socialist Party (PS) Union For All |
Cabinet | President appoints |
Congress | Bicameral National Congress (72 seats) elected by direct vote for 6 year term. Chamber of Deputies (257 seats) elected by direct vote for 4 year term |