Liberalism, religion, and municipal order: Gerónimo Cortés Funes and his intervention in the Cordoba constitutional reform of 1870

Abstract

This proposal analyzes Gerónimo Cortés Funes in the context of the 1870 constitutional reform of Córdoba. In 1873, the prestigious jurist published an exposition on that reform, its central themes, the main debates, and the framework of ideas that inspired the debated and later approved project. We will investigate apparent contradictions between liberalism, identified as "modern," and traditionalism (both in its negative and positive aspects). We will attempt to elucidate, through the perspective of one protagonist, the introduction of liberal principles into nineteenth-century constitutional frameworks and the internal and external tensions with another set of ideas. On the one hand, we will focus on his explanations regarding religion; Cortés, a fervent Catholic, proposed the defense of that religion in an adaptation of liberal principles. On the other hand, in the design of the municipal regime, which, in the author's eyes, was the most complete expression of political liberalism in the Magna Carta, as it was the clearest and most plausible manifestation of institutional independence.