The second
Constitution of Uruguay
The Constitution of Uruguay () is the supreme law of Uruguay. Its first version was written in 1830 and its last constitutional amendment, amendment was made in 2004.
Uruguay's first constitution was adopted in 1830, following the conclusion of ...
was in force during the period 1918–1933.
Approved in
a referendum on 25 November 1917, it replaced the
first Uruguayan Constitution, which had been in force since 1830.
Overview
In 1913
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
José Batlle y Ordóñez
José Pablo Torcuato Batlle y Ordóñez ( or ; 23 May 1856 – 20 October 1929), nicknamed ''Don Pepe'', was a prominent Uruguayan politician who served two terms as President of Uruguay for the Colorado Party. The son of a former president, ...
(1903–07, 1911–15), the father of modern Uruguay, proposed a constitutional reform involving the creation of a
Swiss
Swiss most commonly refers to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Swiss may also refer to: Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss Café, an old café located ...
-style collegial executive system to be called the ''colegiado''. A strong opponent of the one-person, powerful presidency, Batlle y Ordóñez believed that a collective executive power would neutralize the
dictator
A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute Power (social and political), power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a polity. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to r ...
ial intentions of political leaders. It met intense opposition, however, not only from the Blancos but also from members of his own Colorado Party. The proposal was defeated in 1916, but Batlle y Ordóñez worked out a deal with a faction of the Blancos whereby a compromise system was provided for in the second constitution, which was approved by
a plebiscite on November 25, 1917.
In addition to
separating church and state, the new charter, which did not become effective until 1919, introduced substantial changes in the powers of the presidency. The executive power consisted of the president, who controlled
foreign relations
Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...
,
national security
National security, or national defence (national defense in American English), is the security and Defence (military), defence of a sovereign state, including its Citizenship, citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of ...
, and
defense
Defense or defence may refer to:
Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups
* Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare
* Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks
* Defense industr ...
, and the
National Council of Administration
The National Council of Administration () was part of the executive power in Uruguay between 1919 and 1933, ruling alongside the President of Uruguay, President of the Republic. (''Consejo Nacional de Administración''), or ''colegiado'', which administered all other executive governmental functions (
industrial relations
Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor union, labor/trade
unions, employer organ ...
,
health
Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...
,
public works
Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and procured by a government body for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, ...
, industry and
labor
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
,
livestock
Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...
and agriculture,
education
Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...
, and the preparation of the
budget
A budget is a calculation plan, usually but not always financial plan, financial, for a defined accounting period, period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including tim ...
). The ''colegiado'', embodying the political mechanism of coparticipation, consisted of nine members: six from the majority party and three from the minority party. The first ''colegiado'' (1919–33) was thereby established without eliminating the office of president.
[
Although the 1917 constitution worked well during the prosperous time after ]World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, recurring conflicts between the president and the ''colegiado'' members made the executive power ineffective in coping with the economic and social crises wracking the country. Batlle y Ordóñez died in 1929, and his absence was deeply felt as conflicts increased. These conflicts eventually led to the presidential coup of 1933 by Gabriel Terra
José Luis Gabriel Terra Leivas (August 1, 1873 – September 15, 1942) was a Uruguayan lawyer and statesman who served as the 26th constitutional president of Uruguay from 1931 to 1933 and as dictator until 1938. He led a traditionalist and ...
. His ''ad hoc
''Ad hoc'' is a List of Latin phrases, Latin phrase meaning literally for this. In English language, English, it typically signifies a solution designed for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a Generalization, generalized solution ...
'' government suspended the constitution and appointed a constituent assembly to draw up a new constitutional text.[
]
See also
* Constitution of Uruguay
The Constitution of Uruguay () is the supreme law of Uruguay. Its first version was written in 1830 and its last constitutional amendment, amendment was made in 2004.
Uruguay's first constitution was adopted in 1830, following the conclusion of ...
* 1917 Uruguayan constitutional referendum
References
External links
Text of the Constitution of 1918
1918
The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...
1918 establishments in Uruguay
1918 in law
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