In 2002, Poder Ciudadano (Citizen Power) collected signatures on two petitions that, through a constitutional provision, obligated the Argentine Congress to consider community-proposed legislation.  The constitutional provision requires the Congress to deliberate over any proposed legislation brought before it by community members or organizations, but such legislation must bear the signatures of 1.5 percent of Argentine citizens in at least six of 24 districts.  

Poder Ciudadano was created in 1989 by a group of citizens concerned about the defense of civil rights in Argentina.  Using this tactic, it focused its efforts on  two problems that have had widespread effects in Argentine society recently – pensions of privilege, a system of excessive retirement benefits for former government officials, even those known to be corrupt and most recently, hunger, especially of children and pregnant women.  The overarching goal of the tactic was not only to obligate the Congress to address these problems, but also to propose solutions to alleviate them.  

The tactic was initiated with the encouragement of journalists who were interested in overturning the pension system.  To begin the process, Poder Ciudadano wrote the petitions, and compiled crucial signature and instruction sheets for volunteers.  In cooperation with several other organizations, Poder Ciudadano recruited 250 volunteers from around the country.  Most of them were recruited through the organization’s website and the project coordinator.  The volunteers then met at various public locations in their respective communities to collect the signatures:  markets, bookstores, pharmacies, newsstands, and phonebooths.  As petition pages were completed, volunteers returned them to Poder Ciudadano so that the organization could present them to the Congress en masse.  

The instruction sheets provided an important guide for the volunteers, providing them with information such as who was eligible to sign the petitions, what information was needed from the signatories, how many signatures per page were allowed, and what volunteers should do with completed petitions.  These instructions also included a section of frequently asked questions, and their answers, about the initiative, the process after collecting signatures, and about Poder Ciudadano and human rights issues in general.  

A key part of the campaign to collect signatures, especially outside of urban areas, was the participation of the media.  A prominent radio personality was heavily involved in the campaign and made information on the petitions available to listeners.  He used some of his air time to explain the petitions and the process, as well as to publicize the locations and times of signature collection tables.  This publicity was particularly useful in reaching people in smaller, more rural communities.

One of the major newpapers dedicated a full page to update the readers on the number of signatures that had been gained so far.  The newspaper also highlighted human interest stories, such as accounts of middle class housewives who had set up soup kitchens to provide much needed relief to those who have been suffering from the economic collapse. In addition, one of the journalists who was active in inititating the first petition continued to call the President of the Senate regularly to get updates on the progress.  Since he didn’t know the purpose of the journalists calls, the Senate President always accepted the phone call.

Both of the initiatives were very well received by Argentine citizens and Poder Ciudadano presented each to the Congress.  By late 2002, both proposals were passed by the Congress with some modifications.  The initiative to eliminate pensions of privilege collected the necessary 500,000 signatures and was presented to the Congress in 2002.   After lengthy debate in August 2002, the lower house of the Argentine Congress modified the legislation so that retired bishops, diplomats, and judges would still receive some additional benefits, and then it passed the bill.  The Argentine Senate passed the bill as amended, however, the Argentine president used line-item veto power.  As approved by the president, the law repealed only the pensions of privilege of former national legislators, ministers, secretaries, and subsecretaries.  

The hunger initiative, ‘El hambre más urgente’, proposed a program to feed all impoverished Argentine children under age five, as well as impoverished pregnant women, at centers around the country.  The program is currently in the early implementation stages and the first food centers have very recently opened.

This tactic would be useful in countries with a Constitution that provides citizens with a method of direct access to the national legislative body, or that compels the legislature to consider community-proposed legislation through some other type of popular initiative.

Summary completed in March 10, 2003.

Tactic Information

Intervention type: 

Intervention Tactics - Persuasion

Objective: 

Collecting signatures for a referendum that compels the legislature to consider human rights-based legislation

Sector initiating tactic: 

Civil society

Sector intended to affect: 

Government

Contact Information

Organization: 

Poder Ciudadano

Website of Organization: 

http://www.poderciudadano.org/

Country or Region: 

Argentina