Nationalism, popular demonstrations and the role of parliament in early twentieth century Argentina.

MARTÍN O. CASTRO

Oxford

Conferencia; Latin American History Seminar; 2018

Latin American Centre, University of Oxford

Congress and parliamentary politics have been usually studied (especially if we are concerned with 19th and early 20th politics) as part of the realm of formal elite politics, in spite of the fact that the legitimacy of representative institutions and the connection between parliament and society are key in any democratic/representative political system. In this presentation I would like to explore how these ?non-institutionalised? forms of participation intertwined with parliamentary politics in Argentina at the beginning of Twentieth Century. I will start by giving a brief description and interpretation of Argentine politics in the late 19th century and early 20th century and the role of Congress in the constitutional framework. In the second part of this presentation I will deal with an array of street demonstrations and political campaigns that took place in 1908 in times of political crisis and with Congress as a relevant player.