Being “Jefe de Gobierno” of the City of Buenos Aires: The Empowerment of A Political Post and Its Impact in Recent-Time Argentina

Abstract

Between 1883 and 1996, the City of Buenos Aires was governed by an “intendente” appointed by the President of the Nation. In symbolic and practical terms, it was a position of little hierarchy: without autonomous political power, conditioned by the ups and downs of national politics, and without popular legitimacy. This changed after the autonomy process, which established a new elective executive position in the city, called “Jefe de Gobierno”. Unlike his predecessor, being Jefe de Gobierno de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires currently means occupying a place of great public and political relevance in Argentina. Those who reach the post become central political figures, since they govern the richest district in the country, a city that is Argentina’s economic, cultural, and media center. Starting from a socio-historical analysis based on documentary sources, the article analyzes this hierarchical process of this political position. To do this, it focuses on the names, institutional frameworks, and profiles of those who held the position, in the past and today.