Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
's government is a
representative democratic
Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of represe ...
republic
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
, whereby the
President of Chile
The president of Chile ( es, Presidente de Chile), officially known as the President of the Republic of Chile ( es, Presidente de la República de Chile), is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Chile. The president is re ...
is both
head of state
A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...
and
head of government
The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...
, and of a formal
multi-party system
In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in coal ...
.
Executive power
The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state.
In political systems ba ...
is exercised by the president and by their cabinet.
Legislative power
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government.
Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...
is vested in both the
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
and the two chambers of the
National Congress. The
judiciary
The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
is independent of the executive and the legislature of Chile.
The Constitution of Chile was approved in a national
plebiscite
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
in September 1980, under the
military dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer.
The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...
of
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...
. It entered into force in March 1981. After Pinochet left power in 1990, saying this country was ready to keep going along with a plebiscite, the Constitution was
amended to ease provisions for future amendments to the Constitution.
In September 2006, President
Ricardo Lagos
Ricardo Froilán Lagos Escobar (; born 2 March 1938) is a Chilean lawyer, economist and social-democratic politician who served as president of Chile from 2000 to 2006. During the 1980s he was a well-known opponent of the Chilean military di ...
signed into law several constitutional amendments passed by Congress. These include eliminating the positions of appointed senators and
senators for life
A senator for life is a member of the senate or equivalent upper chamber of a legislature who has life tenure. , six Italian senators out of 206, two out of the 41 Burundian senators, one Congolese senator out of 109, and all members of the Bri ...
, granting the President authority to remove the commanders-in-chief of the armed forces, and reducing the presidential term from six to four years while also disabling immediate
re-election
The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...
.
up .11 points and from being in the category of "flawed democracies" the previous year.
Statistical analysis suggests Chilean politicians in Congress "are not randomly drawn from the population, but over-represent high-income communities". As such Chileans of
Castilian-
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
,
Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
and
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
ancestry are overrepresented in it.
History
The
autocratic
Autocracy is a system of government in which absolute power over a state is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject neither to external legal restraints nor to regularized mechanisms of popular control (except perh ...
and
conservative republic
In Chilean historiography, the Conservative Republic was a period of Chilean history that extended between 1826 and 1861, characterized by the hegemony of the conservative party, whose supporters were called ''pelucones''. It began with the defe ...
(1831-1861) was replaced by the
liberal republic
Liberal Republic (Spanish, ''República Liberal'') is the period of Chilean history between 1861 and 1891. It is characterized by the rise of the liberal political faction the ''Pipiolos'' who opposed the ''Pelucones'' who had dominated the prece ...
(1861-1891), during which some political conquests were made, such as
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
(1871) and the abolition of the condition of ownership to have the right to vote (1885).
Parliamentary Republic
When the era of the parliamentary republic began in 1891, the struggle between liberals (pipiolos) and conservatives (pelucones) had already evolved due to the emergence of a multi-party system. In the 1880s, the Liberals split into two factions: the moderates, who did not want to impose secularism too quickly and were willing to compromise with the Conservatives, and the radical Liberals, who joined the
Radical Party founded in 1863 or the new Democratic Party with more progressive, if not socialist, ideas.
European and particularly British companies having appropriated a large part of the country's economy (
saltpeter
Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . This alkali metal nitrate salt is also known as Indian saltpetre (large deposits of which were historically mined in India). It is an ionic salt of potassium ions K+ and nitrat ...
, bank, railway, trade), President
José Balmaceda
José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ).
In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...
(1886-1891), leader of
moderate liberals, decided to react by directing his policy in two directions: the nationalisation of saltpeter mines and the intervention of the State in economic matters. Already facing the conservative aristocracy, he alienated the bankers. He was dismissed by a vote of
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
and pressure from part of the army. He committed
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
by firearm at the end of the civil war that his supporters lost.
Workers' struggles and social reforms
A new parliamentary regime emerged from the civil war; it was the government of Fronda aristocrática. From 1906 onwards, the Radical Party demanded social reforms and the establishment of a democratic regime. That same year, the leader of the Federation of Workers,
Luis Emilio Recabarren
Luis Emilio Recabarren Serrano (; July 6, 1876 – December 19, 1924) was a Chilean political figure. He was elected several times as deputy, and was the driving force behind the worker's movement in Chile.
Early life
Recabarren was born in ...
, was elected to the House but his election was canceled by the House. In 1912 he founded the
Socialist Workers Party.
Despite the country's good economic performance, life remains particularly hard for a large part of the population (12 or 14-hour working days for workers, very low wages, illiteracy of more than 50% in the years 1900–1910, etc.). Trade unionism was organized and fought; strikes and workers' demonstrations multiplied, sometimes very harshly repressed: general strike in Santiago (1905), railways and mines in Antofagasta (1906), a demonstration in Iquique (1907). From 1911 to 1920, there were 293 strikes. Some repressions kill hundreds of people. The workers' movement was organized in the 1910s with the creation of the Chilean Regional Workers' Federation in 1913 and the Chilean branch of the
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines genera ...
in 1919.
In 1920, the economic crisis worsened the standard of living of the middle classes, which were politically closer to the working classes. This new situation led to the election of
Arturo Alessandri Palma
Arturo Fortunato Alessandri Palma (; December 20, 1868 – August 24, 1950) was a Chilean political figure and reformer who served thrice as president of Chile, first from 1920 to 1924, then from March to October 1925, and finally from 1932 to 1 ...
. During his first term in office, he pursued a progressive policy: labor law, the establishment of the tax on property income, the establishment of the Central Bank, creation of social security funds, etc. However, it must constantly deal with the Senate, always under Conservative control, which systematically tries to block its reforms. Shortly before his withdrawal from power, he drew up a new Constitution that was considered to be the advent of true democracy in Chile. This Constitution enshrines the separation of Church and State and religious freedom, declares compulsory primary education, restores presidentialism by electing the president by universal suffrage, and above all proclaims that property must be regulated in such a way as to ensure its social function.
[Latin America in the 20th century: 1889-19]
Legislative branch
![Congresschile](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Congresschile.jpg)
The bicameral
National Congress ''(Congreso Nacional)'' consists of the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
''(Senado)'' and the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
''(Cámara de Diputados).'' The Senate is made up of 50 members elected from regions or subregions. Senators serve approximately eight-year terms. The Chamber of Deputies has 155 members, who are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms. The last congressional elections were held on November 21, 2021.
For parliamentary elections, between 1989 and 2013 the
binominal system
The binomial system ( es, Sistema binominal) is a voting system that was used in the legislative elections of Chile between 1989 and 2013.
From an electoral system point of view, the binomial system is in effect the D'Hondt method with an ope ...
was used, which promoted the establishment of two majority political blocs -
Concertación
The Concertación, officially the Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia ( en, Coalition of Parties for Democracy), was a coalition of center-left political parties in Chile, founded in 1988. Presidential candidates under its banner won ...
and
Alliance
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
- at the expense of the exclusion of non-majority political groups. The opponents of this system approved in 2015 a moderate
proportional electoral system
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
that has been in force since the 2017 parliamentary elections, allowing the entry of new parties and coalitions.
Elections are very labor-intensive but efficient, and vote counting normally takes place the evening of the election day. One voting table, with a ballot-box each, is set up for at-most 200 names in the voting registry. Each table is staffed by five people (''vocales de mesa'') from the same registry. Vocales have the duty to work as such during a cycle of elections, and can be penalized legally if they do not show up. A registered citizen can only vote after his identity has been verified at the table corresponding to his registry. Ballots are manually counted by the five vocales, after the table has closed, at least eight hours after opening, and the counting witnessed by representatives of all the parties who choose to have observers.
The main existing political coalitions in Chile are:
Government:
*
Apruebo Dignidad
''Apruebo Dignidad'' (; in English, ''Approve Dignity'', AD) is a left-wing Chilean electoral coalition officially created on 11 January 2021, by the Broad Front and Chile Digno in preparation for the Constitutional Convention election.
Histo ...
(''Approve Dignity'') is a
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
coalition that has its origin in the
2021 Chilean Constitutional Convention election
An election for the members of the Constitutional Convention was held in Chile between 15 and 16 May 2021. This election was called after 78% of voters in the 2020 national plebiscite voted to write a new Constitution through this method.
Aft ...
. After the success in that election, it held presidential primaries, in which
Gabriel Boric
Gabriel Boric Font (; born 11 February 1986) is a Chilean left-wing politician who is the 37th and current president of Chile, serving since 11 March 2022. Boric studied in the Faculty of Law at the University of Chile, and was the president of ...
(
CS,
FA) was the winner. It is formed by the coalition
Frente Amplio (''Broad Font'') and the coalition
Chile Digno
(Spanish for "Worthy Chile") is a Chilean political coalition of left-wing parties with a Marxist–Leninist, ecologist and regionalist ideology.
The political alliance was created under the name ''Unity for Change'' after the victory of the co ...
(''Worthy Chile'') formed by the
Communist Party of Chile
The Communist Party of Chile ( es, Partido Comunista de Chile, ) is a communist party in Chile. It was founded in 1912 as the Socialist Workers' Party () and adopted its current name in 1922. The party established a youth wing, the Communist Youth ...
and others left-wing parties.
*
Democratic Socialism
Democratic socialism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self- ...
is a
center-left
Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...
coalition, successor of the
Constituent Unity
Constituent Unity ( es, Unidad Constituyente) was a political alliance in Chile. It included the former members of the Concentration of Parties for Democracy (the Christian Democratic Party, Radical Party, Socialist Party, and Party for Democr ...
, and this of the
Concertation -which supported the "NO" option in the
1988 plebiscite and subsequently governed the country from 1990 to 2010-. This pact is formed by the parties
Socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
,
for Democracy,
Radical
Radical may refer to:
Politics and ideology Politics
*Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change
*Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...
, and
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
.
Opposition:
*
Chile Vamos
(Spanish for "Let’s go Chile”) is a centre-right to right-wing political coalition of three political parties in Chile. The coalition was created on 29 January 2015 by the general secretaries of the Independent Democrat Union (UDI), Nationa ...
(''Let’s go Chile'') is a
center-right
Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and mer ...
coalition with roots of liberal conservatism, formed by the parties
Renovación Nacional (''National Renewal''),
Unión Demócrata Independiente
The Independent Democratic Union (''Unión Demócrata Independiente'', UDI) is a conservative and right-wing political party in Chile, founded in 1983. Its founder was the lawyer, politician and law professor Jaime Guzmán, a civilian allied with A ...
(''Independent Democratic Union'') and
Evópoli
Political Evolution (), also known in Spanish by its shorthand Evópoli, is a Chilean centre-right political party, founded in 2012. The party defines itself as a liberal platform for the people who look for a "modern centre-right who proposes as ...
. It has its origins in the
Alliance
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
coalition, formed by the main parties that supported the "YES" option in the
1988 plebiscite, although it has used different names since then. It was the ruling coalition during the first and second government of
Sebastián Piñera
Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique OMCh (; born 1 December 1949) is a Chilean billionaire businessman and politician who served as president of Chile from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2018 to 2022.
The son of a Christian Democratic polit ...
, (2010-2014) and (2018-2022).
In the National Congress, Chile Vamos has 52 deputies and 24 senators, while the parliamentary group of Apruebo Dignidad is formed by 37 deputies and 6 senators. Democratic Socialism is the third political force with 30 deputies and 13 senators. The other groups with parliamentary representation are the
Republican Party
Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party.
Republican Party may also refer to:
Africa
*Republican Party (Liberia)
* Republican Part ...
(15 deputies and 1 senator), the
Christian Democratic Party
__NOTOC__
Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...
(8 deputies and 5 senators), the
Party of the People (8 deputies), and the
independents outside of a coalition (5 deputies and 1 senator).
Since 1987, the Congress operates in the port city of
Valparaíso
Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...
, about 110 kilometers (~70 mi.) northwest of the capital,
Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
. However some commissions are allowed to meet in other places, especially Santiago. Congressional members have repeatedly tried to relocate the Congress back to Santiago, where it operated until the
Chilean Coup of 1973
Chilean may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Chile, a country in South America
* Chilean people
* Chilean Spanish
* Chilean culture
* Chilean cuisine
* Chilean Americans
See also
*List of Chileans
This is a list of Chileans who ar ...
, but have not been successful. The last attempt was in 2000, when the project was rejected by the Constitutional Court, because it allocated funds from the national budget, which, under the Chilean Constitution, is a privilege of the President.
Legal system
The .">Palacio de los Tribunales de Justicia de Santiago.
Chile's legal system is
civil law based. It is primarily based on the
Civil code
A civil code is a codification of private law relating to property, family, and obligations.
A jurisdiction that has a civil code generally also has a code of civil procedure. In some jurisdictions with a civil code, a number of the core ar ...
of 1855, derived from Spanish law and subsequent codes influenced by European law of the last half of the 19th Century. It does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction.
From the year 2000 onwards, Chile completely overhauled its criminal justice system; a new, US-style
adversarial system
The adversarial system or adversary system is a legal system used in the common law countries where two advocates represent their parties' case or position before an impartial person or group of people, usually a judge or jury, who attempt to det ...
has been gradually implemented throughout the country with the final stage of implementation in the Santiago metropolitan region completed on June 9, 2001
Political parties and elections
Pressure groups
Pressure groups according to the
CIA World Factbook
''The World Factbook'', also known as the ''CIA World Factbook'', is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The official print version is available ...
:
* Student federations at all major universities
*
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
*
Workers' United Center of Chile
The Workers' United Center of Chile ( es, Central Unitaria de Trabajadores de Chile, CUT) is a union federation in Chile. The CUT was founded in 1953, but it was suppressed after the Chilean coup of 1973. It was refounded in September 1988 near ...
trade unionists from Chile's five largest labor confederations.
International organization participation
Chile or Chilean organizations participate in the following international organizations:
See also
*
President of Chile
The president of Chile ( es, Presidente de Chile), officially known as the President of the Republic of Chile ( es, Presidente de la República de Chile), is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Chile. The president is re ...
*
List of presidents of Chile
This article contains a list of presidents of Chile from the establishment of the first government junta in 1810, at the beginning of the Chilean War of Independence, to the present day.
Patria Vieja (1810–1814)
Government Juntas (181 ...
*
List of political parties in Chile
The political parties of Chile are three clearly categorized, distinct, political groups: the left-wing, the center and the right-wing. Before the 1973 coup, these three political groups were moderately pluralistic and fragmented.
This distincti ...
*
Foreign relations of Chile
Since its return to democracy in 1990, Chile has been an active participant in the regional and international arena. Chile assumed a two-year non-permanent position on the UN Security Council in January 2003 and was re-elected to the council in O ...
*
Law of Chile The legal system of Chile belongs to the Continental Law tradition.
The basis for its public law is the 1980 Constitution, reformed in 1989 and 2005. According to it Chile is a ''democratic republic''. There is a clear separation of functions, bet ...
*
Human rights in Chile
Human rights in Chile include discrimination against indigenous populations; societal violence and discrimination against women, children, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people; child labor; and harsh prison conditions and treat ...
*
Judiciary of Chile
The judiciary of the Republic of Chile includes one Supreme Court, one Constitutional Court, 16 Courts of Appeal, 84 Oral Criminal Tribunals and Guarantee Judges; 7 Military Tribunals; over 300 Local Police Courts; and many other specialized Tri ...
*
Chilean political scandals
This is a list of major political scandals in Chile.
1800s
* "Scorpion" scandal (1809) – a smuggling scandal that caused the fall of the Royal Governor and hastened Chilean Independence
1810s
*Killing of Manuel Rodríguez Erdoíza
1820s
* C ...
*
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...
References
External links
Presidency
Judicial Branch
National Congress
Ministries
Chile Atiende - Government Portal
Global Integrity Report: Chilehas reporting on anti-corruption in Chile
Government of Chile - Not Official
{{DEFAULTSORT:Politics Of Chile
Government of Chile