This article examines arguments for and against women’s suffragethat circulated in Chile, Uruguay, and Argentina between 1860 and1890. It analyses constitutional law books, press articles, universitytextbooks, and dissertations, that discussed women’s political rightswithin the context of a broader debate about the performance ofrepresentative systems in the region. Rather than assess the impactof these writings on the later attainment of women’s suffrage inthe twentieth century, the focus of the article is in establishing thechannels of circulation of these arguments and their connection tothe discussion on electoral reforms at the time