The last political reform in Argentina in 2009: Disclosing implications beyond the formal law

Abstract

In 2009 the Argentinian Congress passed the Law 26.571 of “Democratization of Political Representation, Transparency and Electoral Equity”. Considering the importance of these kinds of reforms for the political system, this paper aims to describe and analyze this political reform from a new approach in the study of institutional changes: a two-level theory. Taking into account distributive and efficiency principles, as well as historical precedents, a more comprehensive model is proposed. It lets us reflect on the diverse elements of the new legislation, its objectives and pretended effects, some of which could not or will difficultly be reached. In addition to this, it is argued that this last political reform in the country is part of a new trend in Latina American democracies. Its design and its purposes reveal that this institutional amendment is more than just that. As in “consolidated democracies” changes are no longer radical; on the contrary, incremental amendments to ordinary legislation are becoming the rule.To conclude, some reflections about the effects of the political reform on Argentinean democracy and political institutions are proposed. A comparative research agenda of last electoral amendments in other countries of the sub-continent is suggested.