Petitions, demonstrations and parliamentary culture: the Argentine Catholics and Congress (1899-1914)

Abstract

This work offers an overview of the different relationships established between Catholics and Congress between the end of the Nineteenth Century and the beginning of the Twentieth Century. In order to do so, this article deals with three dimensions of the interaction between Catholics and parliament. First, it examines the concerns that the Catholic press, legislators and essayists showed regarding the representation of minorities and the need to make changes to the legislation that allowed the election of parliamentarians who represented a nation that Catholics viewed as predominantly Catholic. Second, it analyses critical statements from the Catholic press and essayists as part of a broader debate on the performance of Congress and legislative procedures. Finally, it draws attention to how Catholic associations adopted and exercised extensively the right to petition. In a context of a Congress under intense criticism, petitioning and mobilizations aimed at the parliament provided civil society with a channel of participation and offered an alternative way to articulate interests and programs different from (although not necessarily incompatible with) the electoral arena.