Sovereignty and federalisms as constituent elements of Argentine nationality

Abstract

In my understanding, two nations have coexisted within the framework of Argentine nationality: the River Plate nation and the Andean nation. Both played a leading role in a history characterised by the quest for unity and, finally, both have lived fraternally sharing the same nationality as of the acceptance, in 1860, of the constitution enacted in 1853. This nationality has henceforth been called Argentine Republic and, from that point of view – one nationality bringing together more than one nation –, it shares a common present and past with all its neighbouring countries. Throughout the course of the construction of our present nationality, some constant ideas common to our political thought have translated into reiterated acts and constitute the basis of the present unity. By way of illustration, we shall consider the evolution of the concepts of national sovereignty and federalism. It should be noted, however, that a similar analysis could be conducted with other political terms recurrently invoked in Argentine history.