La Virtual Municipal Autonomy in Río Negro During the First Decade of the Twentieth Century

Abstract

Political citizenship refers, among others, to the participation right to intervene in loyal and open competition in the election of representatives, a freedom that derives from a representative form of government and which introduces a direct relationship between citizenship and democracy. However, the only way to exercise political rights in the national territories during the first decades of the twentieth century was through the election of municipal councils and justices of peace. That was considered the only instance in which the inhabitants of the territories could prepare for democratic life. In Río Negro, however, everyday action contradicted the aim for which municipalities had been created, since their political independence was constantly questioned. Thus, during that time, the municipalities of Río Negro, mainly Viedma due to its proximity to the territorial government, suffered reductions in their autonomy and a strong control from the national government through the officials based in the territory and the daily press, which questioned municipal sovereignty.