THE UNCONTROLLED VOTE. MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS AND CIVIL WAR IN PERU (1856-1858)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the holding of municipal elections in Peru in the context of
the civil war that pitted the provisional liberal government of General Ramón
Castilla against the conservative rebel army of General Manuel Ignacio de
Vivanco between November 1856 and March 1858. I argue that these elections
were not directly affected by the war, but were occasionally conditioned by a
“civil war” discourse. This rhetoric when activated came to question the
functioning of municipalities, as was the case of the municipality of the city of
Lima accused of conspiracy.