Government (Argentina)
======================


     Long-form name:
         Argentine Republic
     Type:
         republic
     Capital:
         Buenos Aires
     Administrative divisions:
         23 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia), and 1 district**
         (distrito); Buenos Aires, Catamarca, Chaco, Chubut, Cordoba, Corrientes,
         Distrito Federal**, Entre Rios, Formosa, Jujuy, La Pampa, La Rioja, Mendoza,
         Misiones, Neuquen, Rio Negro, Salta, San Juan, San Luis, Santa Cruz, Santa
         Fe, Santiago del Estero, Tierra del Fuego, Tucuman; note - the national
         territory is in the process of becoming a province; the US does not
         recognize claims to Antarctica
     Independence:
         9 July 1816 (from Spain)
     Constitution:
         1 May 1853
     Legal system:
         mixture of US and West European legal systems; has not accepted compulsory
         ICJ jurisdiction
     National holiday:
         Revolution Day, 25 May (1810)
     Executive branch:
         president, vice president, Cabinet
     Legislative branch:
         bicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional) consists of an upper chamber
         or Senate (Senado) and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Camara de
         Diputados)
     Judicial branch:
         Supreme Court (Corte Suprema)
     Leaders:
       Chief of State and Head of Government:
         President Carlos Saul MENEM (since 8 July 1989); Vice President (position
         vacant)
     Political parties and leaders:
         Justicialist Party (JP), Carlos Saul MENEM, Peronist umbrella political
         organization; Radical Civic Union (UCR), Mario LOSADA, moderately left of
         center; Union of the Democratic Center (UCD), Jorge AGUADO, conservative
         party; Intransigent Party (PI), Dr. Oscar ALENDE, leftist party; several
         provincial parties
     Suffrage:
         universal at age 18
     Elections:
       Chamber of Deputies:
         last held in three phases during late 1991 for half of 254 seats, total
         current breakdown of seats - JP 122, UCR 85, UCD 10, other 37
       President:
         last held 14 May 1989 (next to be held NA May 1995); results - Carlos Saul
         MENEM was elected
       Senate:
         last held May 1989, but provincial elections in late 1991 set the stage for
         indirect elections by provincial senators for one-third of 46 seats in the
         national senate in May 1992; total current breakdown of seats - JP 27, UCR
         14, others 5
     Communists:
         some 70,000 members in various party organizations, including a small
         nucleus of activists