The Honorable Senate of the Argentine Nation ( es, Honorable Senado de la Nación Argentina) is the upper house of the

National Congress of Argentina The Congress of the Argentine Nation ( es, Congreso de la Nación Argentina) is the legislative branch of the government of Argentina. Its composition is bicameral, constituted by a 72-seat Senate and a 257-seat Chamber of Deputies. The Senate, ...

Overview

The National Senate was established by the Argentine Confederation on July 29, 1854, pursuant to Articles 46 to 54 of the 1853 Constitution. There are 72 members: three for each

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

and three for the

Autonomous City of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South Am ...

. The number of senators per province was raised from two to three following the 1994 amendment of the Argentine Constitution as well as the addition of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires' senators. Those changes took effect following the May 14, 1995, general elections. Senators are elected to six-year terms by direct election on a provincial basis, with the party with the most votes being awarded two of the province's senate seats and the second-place party receiving the third seat. Historically, Senators were

indirectly elected An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office (direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the old ...

to nine-year terms by each provincial legislature. These provisions were abolished in the 1994 constitutional amendment, and the first direct elections to the Senate took effect in 2001. Currently one-third of the members are elected every two years, with one-third of the provinces hold senatorial elections every two years; there are no term limits. The Vice President of the Republic is ''ex officio'' President of the Senate, with a

casting vote A casting vote is a vote that someone may exercise to resolve a tied vote in a deliberative body. A casting vote is typically by the presiding officer of a council, legislative body, committee, etc., and may only be exercised to break a deadlock ...

in the event of a tie. In practice, the Provisional President presides over the chamber most of the time. The Senate must obtain quorum to deliberate, this being an absolute majority. It has the power to approve bills passed by the Chamber of Deputies, call for joint sessions with the lower house or special sessions with experts and interested parties, and submit bills for the president's signature; bills introduced in the Senate must, in turn, be approved by the Chamber of Deputies for their submittal to the president. The Senate must introduce any changes to

federal revenue sharing Revenue sharing is the distribution of revenue, the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services among the stakeholders or contributors. It should not be confused with profit shares, in which scheme only the profit is sha ...

policies, ratify international treaties, approve changes to constitutional or federal criminal laws, as well as confirm or impeach presidential nominees to the cabinet, the judiciary, the armed forces, and the diplomatic corps, among other federal posts. There are twenty-four standing committees made up of fifteen members each, namely: *Agreements (confirmation of federal nominees) *Constitutional Affairs *Foreign Affairs and Worship *Justice and Criminal Affairs *General Legislation *Budget and Finance *Administrative and Municipal Affairs *National Defense *Domestic Security and Drug Trafficking *National Economy and Investment *Industry and Trade *Regional Economies, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises *Labor and Social Security *Agriculture, Cattle Raising and Fishing *Education, Culture, Science and Technology *Rights and Guarantees *Mining, Energy and Fuels *Health and Sports *Infrastructure, Housing and Transport *Systems, Media and Freedom of Speech *Environment and Human Development *Population and Human Development *Federal Revenue Sharing *Tourism.

Requirements

According to Section 55 of the

Argentine Constitution The Constitution of the Argentine Nation ( es, Constitución de la Nación Argentina) is the Constitution, basic governing document of Argentina, and the primary source of existing Law of Argentina, law in Argentina. Its Argentine Constitution of ...

, candidates for the Argentine Senate must: * be at least 30 years old * have been a citizen of Argentina for six years * be native to the province of his office, or have been a resident of that province for two years.

Composition

The current members of the Senate were elected in 2017, 2019 and

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Senate leadership

The titular President of the Senate is the

Vice President of Argentina The vice president of Argentina ( es, Vicepresidente de Argentina), officially known as the vice president of the Argentine Nation ( es, Vicepresidente de la Nación Argentina), is the second highest political position in Argentina, and first in ...

. However, day to day leadership of the Senate is exercised by the Provisional President. Current leadership positions include:

References

External links

* {{coord, 34.6105, S, 58.3910, W, source:wikidata, display=title

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...