Transmissions and Adaptations of Federalism

The Treatment of the Regime of the National Territories in the University Teaching of Constitutional Law in the Argentine University

Abstract

This paper studies the conceptions of federalism present in the university teaching of Constitutional Law in Argentina during the time of its academic institutionalization. The analysis is based on the treatment that, in that field, was given to an object of contemporary appearance: the National Territories. According to the norm, these spaces, initially under the direct control of the Federal State, should give place to new provinces. Subjected to direct control of the Federal State those spaces were supposed to give place to new provinces, according to the norm. This meant an unprecedented challenge for the young Argentine State, calling the attention of different authoritative figures in constitutional law in both their publications and university classes. However, this paper not only aims togivean account of those academic statements but also of their adaptations by less known figures of the field of law. With special regard to a series of doctoral dissertation in Law whichhad Territories as their subject and setting them in rapport with Constitutional Law university courses, this study proposes to consider the possibility that the education in Law a large majority of politicians had may have influenced their views about Territories, all of which contributes to understanding why these where converted into provinces at mid-XXth Century.