When it comes to political and legal structure, Argentina is a generally collectivist country. It is ruled in the form of a democracy with the first democratic president being elected in 1880. However Argentina did experience some unstableness between 1970-1976 when they shifted from a democracy to military ruled. In fact, 1976 if referred to as National Recognition Process and democracy was restored in 1983.
In recent years, Argentina has experienced record growth within the domestic industry, particularly in the automotive, textile, and appliances industries. They have grown steadily during the past decade while investing heavily in health (8% of GDP) and education (6% of GDP). Argentina has prioritized social spending through various programs, such as the Universal Child Allowance, which now grants 220 pesos ($53) a month for each child under 18, up to a maximum of five, to parents who are unemployed or work in the informal sector of the economy.
Argentina’s government intervenes in trade through things such as the WTO, trading partners, and usual government roles. They have been a WTO member since January 1st of 1995 and a GATT member since October 11 of 1967. In addition to this the government has raised exports on wheat since 2006, which has prevented farmers from growing wheat.
As far as their governmental structure is concerned, Argentina is identified as a Republic, with three major branches: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. The executive branch consist of the Chief of State (President), Head of Government (President) and the presidents Cabinet. The Legislative branch consist of the Senate (72 seats) and the Chamber of Deputies (257 seats). The Judicial branch consist of the Highest Courts (President, Vice President, and 5 Judges), and Subordinate Courts.
The Argentinian Constitution was written in 1853 as an attempt to unite Argentina under a single law system. The structure of the constitution is much like that of the United States with a Bill of Rights. Argentina relies heavily on a Civil Code that came into effect on January 1st of 1871. It was inspired by the Spanish legal tradition, the Brazilian Civil Code, the Spanish Civil Code of 1851, the Napoleonic code and the Chilean Civil Code. This brought stability to the Argentinian law system with five major sections of civil code; preliminary titles and then books I-IV.
In the Public Sector, there are a handful of ethical issues such as corruption, bribery, and human rights or lack there of. In the Public Sector There are legislations and institutions designed to combat public sector corruption but there are many loopholes that are taken advantage of. Reform aimed against companies contributing funds to politics in 2009. The gap allows companies to donate to things other than campaign expenses. There are no clear rules in the judge selection process and there are no dedicated pieces of legislation toward public information. Bribery is very common in the private sector. There are many laws and policies against bribery such as the Argentinian Criminal Code, that have helped implement Inter-American convention against corruption, however it is still an issue. When it comes to human rights in Argentina the main focus is on Indigenous people’s rights. Argentinians suffer from police abuse and harsh prison conditions such as abuse, overcrowding and violence. In fact, there were 426 cases of torture or ill treatment in the 1st 7 months of 2013. On a positive note of human rights, Argentina was the 1st South American country to legalize same-sex mirage and give equal rights in 2010.
