The Ministries of the Argentine Republic, which form the cabinet, currently consist of sixteen

ministries Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

under a ministerial

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

. The ministers are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

. The current organization derives from the constitutional revision of 1994, and is governed by "The Law on Ministries".

History

Prior to independence, the administration of the

Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata ( es, Virreinato del Río de la Plata or es, Virreinato de las Provincias del Río de la Plata) meaning "River of the Silver", also called "Viceroyalty of the River Plate" in some scholarly writings, in ...

was organized under the Royal Ordinance of Administrators issued 28 January 1782 (''la Real Ordenanza de Intendentes''), under which there were eight ''intendencias'' each with a governor reporting to the viceroy. The governor had the police, finance and the military under his direct control, and his lieutenant administered the courts. At first the revolutionaries retained the same system, only gradually dispersing the

executive authority The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems ba ...

over a larger body of men. The first true cabinet posts in Argentina emerged in the early to mid-19th century first under the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata and later under the

Argentine Confederation The Argentine Confederation (Spanish: ''Confederación Argentina'') was the last predecessor state of modern Argentina; its name is still one of the official names of the country according to the Argentine Constitution, Article 35. It was the nam ...

and the

State of Buenos Aires The State of Buenos Aires ( es, Estado de Buenos Aires) was a secessionist republic resulting from the overthrow of the Argentine Confederation government in the Province of Buenos Aires on September 11, 1852. The State of Buenos Aires was ne ...

. For example, the Department of Governance and War (''Departamento de Gobierno y Guerra'') was created on 28 May 1810 by the First Junta with Mariano Moreno as secretary, and although the First Junta sent out diplomates as early as 1810, it was not until 27 February 1813 that the Department of Foreign Business (''Departamento de Negocios Extranjeros'') was created under the supervision of the Secretary of State. ;Argentine Confederation (1831 to 1852) * Ministry of War and the Navy * Ministry of Finance * Ministry of Interior * Ministry of Foreign Affairs * Ministry of Justice, Religion and Public Education ;State of Buenos Aires (1852 to 1861) * Ministry of Governance * Ministry of War * Ministry of Finance * Ministry of Foreign Affairs * Prosecutor's Office

Current ministries

Presidential secretariats with ministerial rank

The 1983 Law on Ministries passed by then-president Raúl Alfonsín set the precedent for secretariats of state with ministerial rank. These secretaries respond directly to the

Presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by ...

. As of the latest version of the Law on Ministries, these are the existing Secretariats of the Presidency counting with ministerial rank in the Argentine government.

Notes and references

{{South America topic, Cabinet of , title=National cabinets of South America Argentina, Ministries of Government of Argentina