Voting in Buenos Aires before 1912

Abstract

This paper analyses the nature of the electorate of the city of Buenos Aires at the turn of the century. It challenges received views on the city's political life arguing that electoral participation was growing at a fast rate before the passing of the Sáenz Peña Law in 1912. The increasing number of people voting had been overshadowed by the rapid growth of the city' s population. A quantitative analysis of these variables shows and increasingly active electoral life, while a brief description of Buenos Aires· electoral culture points out some of the reasons lying behind these trends.