Agents of election and reform. Political activities of the Buenos Aires police in the various strands of Conservatism, 1902-1914

Abstract

This article analyzes the police institution as a main player in the politics of the period of 1902-1914 in the province of Buenos Aires. Although the “conservative order” (1880-1916) is currently under historiographical review in Argentina, the police has not come under scrutiny for its interventions and representations in such a context. In dialogue with this task are varying agreements and tensions in police intervention both constituting policy and defining the institutional configuration itself. The police’s monolithic and malleable visions are therefore discussed, revealing that beyond the strong links between the police and the provincial/local authorities were significant differences and a constant need to negotiate loyalties. The police was thus not a heteronomous institution, instead appropriating the requisitions of the political authorities from a standpoint permeated by the aspirations and specifics that conferred its roles.