“Culture” is the ability to make informed value judgments on certain issues. To acquire this “ability” it is necessary to first study, research and access knowledge. Meanwhile, “civic culture” is the ability to make informed value judgments on those issues that are related to the political organization of a country, its institutions, the powers and limits of our rulers, as well as the scope and limits of our rights/freedoms.
We are often taught that Argentina was born on May 25, 1810 (with the appearance of our first national government), and that it became independent from Spain –and from the rest of the world- when it declared independence on July 9, 1816. But educators are not usually so explicit when explaining the importance of the May 1th 1853, when through the sanction of the National Constitution, the country was organized under the protection of a fundamental law.
The meaning of the existence of a government of its own and the term “independence” are perfectly understood, but the precise meaning of a country being organized under a higher norm is not fully understood; simply because the meaning of a Constitution is not well understood, what its purpose is, and the importance of living in a State of Law.
If it were understood that in a State of Law, rulers can only do what they are constitutionally permitted to do, we would be interested in knowing precisely what they are permitted to do, and therefore we would be interested in knowing the Constitution that defines it.
No one can give importance to that which they do not know, nor to those who elaborated and created that which is not known. That is why we know who Saavedra was (the president of our first national government), and also Laprida (who presided over the Congress of Tucumán when independence was declared), but we do not know what Alberdi (the main ideologist of our National Constitution) and Gorostiaga (its main drafter) did.
More than one hundred and fifty years had to pass since the sanction of our fundamental law, for Congress to pay him the deserved tribute, instituting a day in his memory: it was not until December 4, 2003 that the National Congress sanctioned law 25.863, through which it established that May 1 of each year be the day of the National Day. National Constitution DayWhat is not explained is why the law did not double the importance of the same, establishing that this day be a holiday. In fact, it is a holiday because it is the day of the worker, which has been celebrated worldwide since 1887, but not because it is the day of the National Constitution, which was born in 1853.
That is why it cannot go unnoticed that last Monday, May 1, marked one hundred and seventy years since the sanction of our Constitution, or in other words, the political organization of the country, or if you will, the formation of our State of Law.
Given the indifference with which it is treated, it is probably appropriate, in the current times, to make a call for “civic solidarity”, the terms of which could be approximately the following:
It is urgently necessary to know the whereabouts and content of a lady called the National Constitution. It is also known as the Supreme Law or Fundamental Law. She just turned one hundred and seventy years old. She suffers from depression because she feels alone, abandoned, ignored and systematically disobeyed. She suffers from indifference syndrome and disappeared from the political life of the country several years ago. She has been seen sad and depressed on several occasions, accompanied by another lady called the Republic, who also suffers from the same emotional pathologies. She was last seen on the desk of an official, who, realizing that its content bothered him, decided to throw it out the window. The population is required to immediately report any information about her to public bodies, schools and universities. As a reward, a healthier institutional life is offered, and the satisfaction of living in a country where the law is respected and where anyone who dares to ignore it is condemned!
This “call to civic solidarity,” which wanders between fiction and reality, is more pertinent than ever in these times.
In any case, no matter how important our Magna Carta may be in itself, if it is not disseminated and known, it will be difficult for it to be valued by the inhabitants, who, if we do not assign it relevance when we are governed, will do so even less when we eventually have the opportunity to occupy some public office.
If for a moment the National Constitution were to acquire human traits and could somehow express itself, it would probably do so in the following terms:
“I am the National Constitution, and I want to tell you that I am a little sad and discouraged. I know that many of you do not know me; others do, but they do not know why I exist, what objective I was born with, and what my role is in the political and institutional life of our country; I also know that although a few of you know this, you do not trust my usefulness and importance.
At the same time, I am very clear that for most rulers I am an obstacle, because I limit them and because I regulate the exercise of the power they wield. I suppose that is why they do not want to even read me, because I could cause them some guilt. However, despite always remaining silent, from time to time I feel the need to express myself, to say what I think, to exercise the freedom of opinion that I so fervently consecrate and grant to all inhabitants.
I was conceived in 1853 to organize the Nation legally and politically, to limit the power of those who must direct its destiny (that is, the rulers) and to give all men rights and freedoms. I have been very benevolent in this sense, because I have preferred to ensure rights rather than impose obligations on the inhabitants.
According to the constituents who created me, my existence would serve to establish national unity, to strengthen justice, to pacify the country internally, to achieve a system of defense against external aggression, to promote the well-being of all and to make freedom a reality and not a pipe dream. However, from the beginning everything was very difficult for me: the representatives of the fourteen provinces that existed in 1853 did not come to an agreement in the city of San Nicolás – the place where they met to make the decision to create me – and Buenos Aires ended up fighting with the rest, which is why it did not participate in my creation and birth.
Poor Urquiza, who had longed for me so much, had to serve as the first constitutional president without being able to govern Buenos Aires. Then, finally, the eldest sister joined the national project, she wanted to meet me in 1860, she reviewed me, and brought me up to date a bit, adding some content that helped me to be a little more federal than before.
I know myself and I know the importance I should have in the political life of Argentina, although sometimes I think that only I perceive it; but I was never arrogant, on the contrary, I admitted that my concepts could become outdated over time and I considered it convenient to create a mechanism so that the rulers, with a broad consensus, could modify and improve me. Well, they did it six more times after 1860, and I have a feeling that some of the changes they made to me were mean and decidedly harmful.
Despite being one hundred and seventy years old, it has never been easy for me to be the star of the legal system and the basis of the political organization of our country. Although I have never felt verbally attacked, nor questioned regarding my superiority in relation to the rest of the norms, I have perceived, on the other hand, indifference and lack of interest on the part of successive governments when it comes to enforcing my directives. In reality, there are few cases of those who strictly followed my postulates.
In public, all the rulers praise and eulogize me with enthusiasm; they say that I am the “law of laws,” and they even proclaim the importance of my validity, but then I do not perceive the same energy to obey me.
There is also something that deeply distresses me: the indifference with which you, the citizens, also treat me. It is true that many have not accessed basic education, and that those who do, do not receive the civic instruction that a good citizen needs to appreciate the reason for my existence. It is evident that this plays against me, despite education being one of the civil rights that I most fervently wanted to ensure to all inhabitants, since my article 14.
The problem is not only ignorance, because many of those who have been able to know me do not seem to see clearly why it is necessary to respect my validity. It is very painful to feel unnecessary and to realize that many things are wrong in Argentina, due to the lack of knowledge that those governed and those in power have of my content. Has anyone ever remembered that every May 1st is my birthday?
I have suffered the insult of being shelved for several years: from 1930 to 1983, fifty-three years passed, of which I lived in captivity for twenty-three. They were difficult times, in which I was vilified and mistreated by unscrupulous rulers who took upon themselves the rights of the people and governed in their name, without being elected by them. But I must be honest enough to admit that my prestige did not increase much in periods of democracy.
I know that I was born to live forever, but the pain of not being what I should be is sapping my strength, because oblivion and indifference are often worse than a direct and merciless attack. But that would be nothing if it were not for the fact that I perceive that the functioning of the institutions is deteriorating at the same speed as my anguish. To top it all off, during the last "operation" to which I was subjected, in 1994, I saw, with contained indignation, how cancerous tumors were injected into my breast, forcing me to authorize the President of the Nation to exercise the powers of Congress, and the latter to delegate its own powers to the former. I, who in 1853 had warned the legislators that if they did such a thing they would commit a crime whose punishment would be that of those who betray the country!
I know that time is limited for mortals and unlimited for countries and their institutions, so I cannot afford to lose hope. There are new generations who can still value and rescue me, and I dream for them.
I dream of a country in which the leaders prove their suitability - which I demand in my article 16 in order for them to be able to access public office - by demonstrating that they know me intimately, in great detail, and that they follow my directives with total conviction.
I dream of a country where the people of the country have me as their bedside text, where teachers proudly show me to their students, where they recognize the importance of my full validity, and where the authorities evoke me on each anniversary of my birth.
I dream that every May 1st, people celebrate Labor Day, but that they also understand that it is my day, and that it is also a holiday to remember me.
I dream of all this, but I don't want to be pessimistic. I will trust in the future, in the new generations, because after all I am the National Constitution, and leaving aside modesty for a moment, I am fully convinced that the best thing that can happen to this country is that all my dreams one day come true.
I ask God, whom I described in my preamble as the “source of all reason and justice,” to grant us Argentines this possibility. May it be so, for today and forever!
This is probably how our Magna Carta “feels” today, but even in the context of the economic, political and social difficulties that our country is experiencing, it is worth highlighting its importance. It is time, then, to hope that its supremacy prevails over that which some messianic rulers often claim, who tend to feel more important than it.
One hundred and seventy years after its birth, the National Constitution is our guide, our program, our great institutional umbrella. Knowing it must be our great objective, and demanding that it be respected, our main civic mission. So be it!
The author is a lawyer and Professor of Constitutional Law (UBA). His latest book is "Keys to the Civic Education of Argentines" published by Planeta.
