Uruguayan Politics

The political organization of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay is regulated by the current Constitution. The State adopts a republican democratic form of government; For the publication of The Economist, in its 2019 Democracy Index, Uruguay is the second fully democratic country in South America, ranked among the first 25 countries worldwide. According to the annual study of "freedom in the world 2023" published by Freedom House, Uruguay was classified as a "free country".

History

Until, and then from 1931 to 1952, the Uruguayan political system, based on the Constitution of 1830, was presidential with strong executive power, similar to that of the United States (but centralized and not federal). It was also characterized by the rivalry between the two traditional parties, the liberal Colorado Party, and the conservative White Party (or National Party). Historically, whites represented the interests of rural property, the Church, and the military hierarchy, while colorados were supported by urban chattels, reformist intellectuals, and members of the liberal professions.

In the 19th century, the country had characteristics similar to those of other Latin American countries: caudillismo, civil wars and instability permanent (40 revolts between 1830 and 1903), control of foreign capitalism over important sectors of the economy, high percentage of illiterates (more than half the population in 1900), agrarian oligarchy, etc. However, Montevideo became a haven for Argentine exiles fleeing the dictatorship of Juan Manuel de Rosas and maintained a reputation as a haven for "advanced" political and social protest ideas. In 1842, the newspaper Le Messager dedicated a special issue to the memory of Charles Fourier. During the great war (1839-1852), Garibaldi's red shirts fought in Montevideo even against the attacking forces of Rosas. In 1875, workers founded an International.

At the beginning of the XX century, Uruguay became the most politically and socially advanced state on the continent. The liberal José Batlle y Ordóñez (in power between 1903 and 1907, and 1911 and 1915) was the main architect of this transformation; freedom of expression and of the press was affirmed, as well as that of suffrage. A system of proportional representation is adopted to allow for the representation of minorities. It applies a policy to combat administrative corruption and institutes secularism and the right to vote for women.

Characteristics of the Uruguayan State

1. Sovereign. We see this explained in Article 12 of the Constitution 'Article 4 of the Uruguayan Constitution states: Sovereignty in all its fullness exists radically in the Nation, to which it competes the exclusive right to establish its laws...
2. Unitarian. The State adopts a unitary system of government.
3. Laico. Article 5 of the Constitution provides: All religious cults are free in Uruguay. The State has no religion.
4. Pacifist. Article 6 of the Constitution provides: In the international treaties to be concluded by the Republic, it shall propose that all differences arising between the contracting parties shall be decided by arbitration or other peaceful means.
5. Integrator. Article 6 of the Constitution states: The Republic will seek the social and economic integration of Latin American States, especially with regard to the common defence of their products and raw materials. It will also promote the effective complementation of its public services.
6. Humanist and pluralist. Section II of the Constitution - Rights, Duties and Guarantees - establishes equality before the law and the rights to life, honour, liberty, security, work and property among others.
7. Law. Rulers and governors, majority and minority, must be subject to the Constitution and the law. There is no room for arbitrariness.
8. Liberal. It belongs to the political doctrine that governs individual and social freedom in the political and private initiative in the economic and cultural spheres, limiting the intervention of the State and of political powers.

Structure of the Uruguayan State

The republic has a presidential system and its government is divided into three independent powers:

In addition to the three aforementioned powers, there are three independent control bodies in the highest hierarchy of the State:

The Uruguayan State also comprises subnational entities, called «departments», each with an executive called the Intendant and departmental legislature called the Departmental Board. There are also second-level subnational entities within each of the country's departments, most of them created after 2010, called "municipalities" and managed by a collective body made up of a mayor and four councillors.

Executive Branch

Front of the Executive Tower, headquarters of the executive branch, Montevideo.

The executive power is exercised by the President of the Republic, who acts jointly with the Council of Ministers. The president is simultaneously head of state and head of government, and is elected together with the vice-president by direct popular election, while they in turn designate the council of ministers. Ministers are appointed and dismissed by the president. Likewise, the Ministers are appointed "among citizens who, by having parliamentary support, ensure their permanence in office" (Constitution, Art. 174), therefore the General Assembly can dismiss the Ministers by absolute majority of votes.

The president has a 5-year term without immediate re-election until after the same period from leaving office. The president and vice president are elected in the same candidacy presented by the respective party. In the event that no candidacy obtains an absolute majority of the votes, a second round is held between the first two majorities. In said vote, the candidacy that obtains the simple majority of the votes is the winner.

The Council of Ministers consists of fourteen ministries. The Planning and Budget Office (OPP) also depends on the Presidency of the Republic, which has ministerial rank and whose Director and Deputy Director are elected by the President of the Republic.

Each of Uruguay's 19 departments is headed by a Mayor, directly elected by the citizens.

Since 2010 there is a third level of government, the Municipalities. The governing body consists of five councilors, one of whom is appointed Mayor.

Legislative branch

Front of the Legislative Palace, seat of the legislature, Montevideo.

Legislative power resides in the General Assembly, which consists of a 30-member Chamber of Senators and a 99-member House of Representatives. Elections for parliament are held on closed lists simultaneously with the presidential election (the vote is not applied for each candidate for deputy or senator but for a list presented by each political party). Deputies are elected by department while senators are elected at the national level, both for five-year terms.

Each of the nineteen Departments of Uruguay has a municipal legislature called the Departmental Board, the legislators of said body are called mayors.

Judicial branch

The judiciary is headed by the Supreme Court of Justice, whose members are appointed by the General Assembly by a two-thirds majority and whose terms last ten years. The Supreme Court of Justice exercises the administrative superintendence of the entire Judiciary, is the last instance of appeal and is also in charge of judging the constitutionality of laws. The judiciary is also made up of Courts of Appeals, Law Courts and Justices of the Peace.

Human Rights

• Freedom of expressionUruguay is the Latin American country with the greatest freedom of expression (radial, televisive, written, Internet) although there have been allegations of pressure. Uruguay is the country that publishes more books in relation to its population throughout South America.
• Religious freedom: secularism is protected by article 5.o of the constitution, Uruguay is a very tolerant country with all its religious denominations. The majority is the Catholic, with many non-practices, the second is the umbanda, which has had a significant growth reaching 3% according to various studies and surveys, then followed by the Jews with 2%, there are also many confessions with more than 20 000 followers: Pentecostals (Pare de Sufrir and God is Love), Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Spiritists, Evangelists and Protestants; There is an Islamic community in Rocha with 600 followers. There are also Buddhist and Hare Krishna minorities.
• Abortion: Abortion was treated about ten times since the return to democracy, in 2004 the vote was frustrated in the Senate, in 2007 it was approved but the presidential veto slowed it down. In 2012 abortion was approved again in Parliament and promulgated by President José Mujica.
• Eutanasia: The possibility of legalizing euthanasia will depend on an agreement in the Broad Front, which is very likely.
• Decriminalization of marijuana: On 10 December 2013, a law regulating the market of this plant was adopted, production (which will be controlled by the State), marketing, possession and recreational and medicinal uses of marijuana, as well as industrial uses, thus becoming the first country in the world to legalize the sale and cultivation of marijuana fully.
• Animal Rights: There is currently a legal vacuum on the subject, a bill prohibiting torture and ill-treatment of pets is being dealt with.
• Health: The decree of the executive branch that prohibits smoking in public spaces was a great advance that put Uruguay on the first world's health issues.
• Sexual education: It will be treated at all levels of education, from primary to high school, will be secular and will encompass sexual diversity, contraception and human sexuality beyond reproduction, has strong opposition of Christianity, even though the educational institutes belonging to the Catholic Church include this education, including contraception, since the 1990s.

Currently in most of the country sexual education is taught in the subject of biology in the third year of high school (ninth grade). They talk about gender, sexual orientation, feminism, sexuality, sex, contraceptives, pregnancy, changes in adolescence, among others.

Political parties

Uruguay has a consolidated political party system that is very stable, with relatively low electoral fluctuations. After the 2019 Uruguayan presidential election, only four parties count with parliamentary representation in the Chamber of Senators: Frente Amplio, Partido Nacional, Partido Colorado and Cabildo Abierto. With respect to the Chamber of Deputies, the representation is greater, with seven parties: Broad Front, National Party, Colorado Party, Open Cabildo, People's Party, Intransigent Radical Ecologist Party and Independent Party.

In the presidential elections of October 2019, in addition to these seven parties, the Green Animalist Party, the Popular Unity, the Digital Party and the Workers Party also participated. These four parties did not gain representation in Parliament. On the other hand, in the departmental and municipal elections in Montevideo in May 2015, the Concertación Party participated, while since 2016 a new party was registered: the People's Party. In 2019, a new actor emerged, Cabildo Abierto, marking a new trend towards four-partyism.

Political parties with representation in positions

	Political party	Position	Ideology	Foundation	Deputies	Senators	Intendence	Mayors	Election 2014	Triomphs electoral elections
	Front Amplio	Left, Left, Left, Left	Democratic Socialism, Social Democracy, Progressism, Democratic Left, Moderate Left, Marxism, Communism,	1971 (52 years)	42/99	13/30	6/19	37/112	Yes.	3
	National Party	Right Center, Right	Liberalism, Nationalism, Conservativeism	1836 (186 years)	30/99	10/30	12/19	68/112	Yes.	6
	Colorado Party	Centro Izquierda, Centro, Centro Derecha	Republicanism, Liberalism, Social Democracy, Progressism, Socio-liberalism	1836 (186 years)	13/99	4/30	1/19	7/112	Yes.	29
	Open cabin	Right	Social conservatism	2019	11/99	3/30	0/19	0/112	No.	0
	Independent Party	Centre	Social Democracy, Christian Socialism	2002 (21 years)	1/99	0/30	0/19	0/112	Yes.	0
	People's Party *	Right	Economic Liberalism, Right Populism, Social Conservativeism	2016 (6 years)	1/99	0/30	0/19	0/112	No.	0
	Popular Unity	Extrema Izquierda	Communism, Socialism, Marxism.	2013 (10 years)	1/99	0/30	0/19	0/112	Yes.	0
	Party of Concertation **	Right Center, Right	Ideology of the National Party and the Colorado Party	2013 (10 years)	0/99	0/30	0/19	2/112	Yes.	0

(*) They did not participate in the last elections.

(**) He participated in the last internal elections, but not in the presidential elections.