Contested subnational re-elections drive: an analyses of the Argentine case (2013-2023)

el caso de Argentina (2013-2023)

Abstract

The aim is to describe and comparatively analyze the processes of disqualification of unconstitutional candidacies of incumbent governors seeking re-election in Argentine provinces (period 2013-2023). After the reform of the National Constitution of 1994 five cases are addressed: Santiago del Estero, 2013; Río Negro and La Rioja, 2019; and San Juan and Tucumán, 2023. Two waves of re-election are detected in the 2019 and 2023 electoral cycles and a line of jurisprudence upheld by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation regarding the limits of reelection and its role as constitutional comptroller. The subnational comparative method along with the main dimensions identified by the literature on subnational authoritarianisms and their possibilities for change are used for the analyses. This article addresses an object sparsely studied by the political science literature and contributes to the knowledge of the Argentine case on the territorialization and multiscalarity of unconstitutional reelection processes and their accountability.