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

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 state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

and three for the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. The number of senators per province was raised from two to three following the

1994 amendment of the Argentine Constitution The 1994 amendment to the Constitution of Argentina was approved on 22 August 1994 by a Constitutional Assembly that met in the twin cities of Santa Fe and Paraná. The calling for elections for the Constitutional Convention and the main issues t ...

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 ol ...

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 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 The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

, 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 sh ...

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 basic governing document of Argentina, and the primary source of existing law in Argentina. Its first version was written in 1853 by a constitutional ...

, 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.

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 List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...