Constitucionalización de la reforma y centralización política. México: 1873-1874. Controversia parlamentaria y moralidad civil

Abstract

The article explores the elevation to constitutional status of the reform laws as well as the drafting of their organic regulations in Mexico between 1873 and 1874. Around the 150th anniversary of such events, it emphasizes the richness of the parliamentary discussions of said process, distant from a supposed liberal uniformity and revealing of the verifiable tensions between the powers of the states and the powers of the federation within the period of the restored republic (1867-1876). Thus, throughout the debate a point apparently worthy of unanimity appears in discussion: federalism. Based mainly on the Diary of Debates of the Chamber of Deputies and in a complementary way by newspapers and brochures, the text analyzes the vividness of the parliamentary controversy around the existence of a civil morality of a universal nature foreign to the Catholic clergy and regulated by secular law. It shows that although there was a relative consensus on this issue, the admittedly Catholic and proclaimed liberal voices within the Chamber of Deputies are not only verifiable but energetic, a sign of an arduous process not only legal but also educational that does not conclude with the constitutionalization of the reform. Finally, it suggests the limits and scope of civil morality enunciated by distinguished liberal voices.