2023-05-08 03:58:02
Does Argentina have a future without long-term policies and without agreements that make it possible to carry out profound and structural reforms? The answer is categorical and we all know it. Pathological short-termism and unproductive polarization have led us here and rise like an ever higher wall that locks us in a labyrinth of degradation and decadence..
There is no single remedy to combat these scourges of narrow-mindedness and extreme confrontation, but a reform that abolishes mid-term elections could be a valuable contribution to foster far-reaching agreements and policiesmoving away from a permanent campaign that conspires against democratic dialogue and against the government’s own action.
Argentina celebrates its 40 years of democracy in the midst of a social tragedy. Almost 19 million inhabitants (more than 40 percent of the population) are poor and a quarter of that universe is submerged in an extreme situation, without sufficient resources to guarantee their basic food. In the last 20 years, 50 percent of job creation has occurred in a precarious labor market or in the state. Informal employment, without social coverage or retirement contribution, stands at a record level of 37 percent, according to the latest data from INDEC. The inflation This year it is already well above 100 percent and public spending exceeds 40 points of GDP, which at the same time generates an exorbitant tax pressure on the formal sector of the economy that conditions many activities and causes others to be directly unfeasible. To this must be added the advance of urban insecurity and drug traffickingwhich has dramatically deteriorated the quality of life in cities.
How does democracy stop in the face of this immense debt to society? It is a crucial question, compared to the threat of anti-system outbreaks and populism of one or another ideological sign that germinate in a global context in which post-truth prevails over the value of the facts.
Reviewing some aspects of our electoral system could be a first step to generate, at least, the conditions for a constructive dialogue and for the design of public policies that look beyond the urgencies and pressures posed by the permanent campaign.
It is not about changing rules to the beat of current needs; much less to handle the Constitution as if it were an eternal draft. It is, yes, about proposing a reform based on an honest diagnosis of our own failure and not clinging to rigid schemes if they do not guarantee good results. More voting is not more democracy. And they can be, instead, more spending, more polarization and greater conditioning of government management by a permanent electoral calculation.
The comparative analysis of institutional systems supports the need for this debate: mid-term elections with partial renewal of the legislative chambers are almost an Argentine eccentricity: it is a system that does not exist in almost any of the nations in the world with solid republican systems. . Only five of the twenty-four countries listed as full democracies in the 2022 Democracy Index hold midterm elections. United Statess votes every two years, but renews the whole, not half of Congress. Twelve of the twenty-four Argentine jurisdictions do not hold mid-term elections: they contemplate the complete renewal of their legislatures in a unified election with that of executive positions. But Argentina is also the only country that holds simultaneous and mandatory open primary elections (PASO), which overloads the electoral calendar and embarks governments on a continuous and premature campaign.
The Spanish philosopher and essayist Daniel Innerarity He expresses it with crystal clarity: “We frequently ask ourselves why agreements are so difficult and we tend to blame it on political fragmentation, but the root cause is not that but rather the domination of campaign logic over the entire political process. There is a structural opposition between campaigning and governing; attitudes that serve one hinder the other. The fact that we have turned politics into a permanent campaign is one of the reasons that explains why the anti-agreement mentality has strengthened in our societies”, he explains in a short essay entitled the permanent campaign.
Argentina has taken this deformation to extreme levels. A government does not finish installing itself when it must already embark on a campaign for the mid-term election. You cannot think of policies or strategies that imply short-term costs, but with long-term benefits, because that could jeopardize your immediate electoral chances. and assimilate, therefore, to a sort of political suicide. Pre-electoral processes –as is known– tend to encapsulate the leadership in the heat of internalism, delay management decisions and divert the energies that should be concentrated on governing. As if that were not enough, they inexorably encourage the expansion of spending and hamper legislative work.
A government that loses its mid-term elections is inevitably left wounded and weakened, with little room to propose agreements or make difficult decisions. In order to pass this electoral test, you will probably have to avoid taking risks. Also should accentuate the polarization. Thus, a vicious circle is generated that leads us to a growing deficit, a worsening of the economic and social crisis and even an erosion of our institutional and democratic quality.
Talking about constitutional reform can sound overwhelming and perhaps even inopportune, in addition to generating well-intentioned objections. However, a “microsurgery” on the magna carta of 94 could perhaps open the door to a more propitious institutional system to provide the substantive responses that society demands. It would be a partial reform in articles 50 and 56, both for make the legislative elections coincide with those for executive positions in order to unify the mandates of national senators and deputies, which now force an intricate schedule of provincial votes and generate an imbalance between both chambers of Congress. This would not only simplify the electoral calendar, but would also make a decisive contribution to a climate of greater political stability and the construction of a more propitious and predictable horizon to work on solving long-term problems.
It is essential that we overcome the discussions and short-term brawls to think, with courage and a spirit of greatness, the Argentina of the future. The 40 years of democracy are, without a doubt, a reason for celebration in a country that despised, for decades, republican values. But it is also a reason for self-criticism and deep review. Caring for and strengthening democracy is providing solutions. And we will not be able to give those answers if campaign tactics devour government strategies and if shared power is replaced, through polarization, by shared impotence.
Polarization and extreme antagonism exclude, as is known, the main characteristics of a democracy: tolerance, respect for the adversary, dialogue, negotiation and agreement.
We cannot persist in the mistakes of the past and present. The generation of democracy has an achievement to celebrate, that of institutional stability, but also a huge debt to pay off. Thinking of new tools to build the future is part of this challenge that we must assume.
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