A constitutional referendum was held in
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
on 25 November 1917.
[ Nohlen, D (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II'', p494 ] Amongst the changes to the system of government, the
new constitution would create a
National Council of Administration (known as the ''colegiado'') alongside the presidency.
[ The National Council of Administration would have nine members; six from the winning party and three from the runner-up party. The proposals were approved by 95.15% of voters.][Uruguay, 25 November 1917: Constitution]
Direct Democracy The result was confirmed by the Senate on 18 December, and the new constitution came into force on 1 March 1919.[
]
Background
The ''colegiado'' system had been first proposed by President José Batlle y Ordóñez
José Pablo Torcuato Batlle y Ordóñez ( or ; 23 May 1856 in Montevideo, Uruguay – 20 October 1929), nicknamed ''Don Pepe'', was a prominent Uruguayan politician, who served two terms as President of Uruguay for the Colorado Party. He w ...
in 1913, with the aim of creating an executive body similar to the Swiss Federal Council
The Federal Council (german: Bundesrat; french: Conseil fédéral; it, Consiglio federale; rm, Cussegl federal) is the executive body of the federal government of the Swiss Confederation and serves as the collective head of state and governm ...
.[The Constitution]
Library of Congress Country Studies Batlle had been opposed to the presidential system, believing that a collegiate body would lower the risk of a dictatorship emerging.[ Although the proposal was defeated in 1916, Batlle negotiated a compromise with the National Party to include the system in a new constitution.][
]
New constitution
As well as introducing the ''colegiado'' system, the new constitution determined that presidents could only serve a single term in office.[ It provided for a bicameral ]General Assembly
A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company.
Specific examples of general assembly include:
Churches
* General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...
with a term of four years, and introduced universal male suffrage.[ It also provided for the separation of church and state and allowed for constitutional amendments to be made with a two-thirds majority in both chambers of the General Assembly.][
]
Results
See also
* Uruguayan Constitution
References
{{Uruguayan elections
1917 referendums
1917 in Uruguay
Referendums in Uruguay
Constitutional referendums in Uruguay
November 1917 events