Politics

The politics of Argentina takes place in a framework of a federal presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Argentina is both head of state and head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Government

The Argentine Constitution of 1853 mandates a separation of powers into executive, legislative and judicial branches at the national and provincial level.

Executive Branch

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.

Legislative Branch

Legislative power is vested in the bicameral National Congress or Congreso de la Nación, consisting of a Senate (Senado) of 72 seats, and a Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados) of 257 members.

Senators serve six-year terms, with one-third standing for re-election 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.

Judicial Branch

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.

Military

Argentina's armed forces are controlled by the Defence 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 military is 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 branches however maintain liaisons with the Defence Ministry. Argentina's Armed Forces are currently performing major operations in Haiti and Cyprus, in accordance to specified UN mandates.

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, and in every phase of the Haiti operation. It has also contributed worldwide in 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, US 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.

Argentina has long claimed sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), the South Shetland Islands, the South Sandwich Islands and almost 1 million sq km in Antarctica, between the 25°W and the 74°W meridians and the 60°S parallel. This slice of the continent is known as Argentine Antarctica, which Argentina considers part of the national territory. For more than a century, there has been an Argentine presence at the Orcadas Base.

In 1977 and again as recently as in 2006, Argentina's Chamber of Deputies (A chamber of Argentina's legislative power) 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, Néstor Kirchner.

In 1993, Argentina launched the United Nations White Helmets initiative for humanitarian aid.

On November 4 and 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-US protests. As of 2006, Argentina has been emphasising Mercosur as its first international priority; by contrast, during the 1990s, it relied more heavily on its relationship with the United States.

Argentina is a founding signatory and permanent consulting member of the Antarctic Treaty System and the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat is established in Buenos Aires.