Christian Democracy (Chile)
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The Christian Democratic Party ( es, Partido Demócrata Cristiano, PDC) is a
Christian democratic Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...
political party in Chile. There have been three Christian Democrat presidents in the past, Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, Patricio Aylwin, and Eduardo Frei Montalva. Customarily, the PDC backs specific initiatives in an effort to bridge socialism and laissez-faire capitalism. This economic system has been called "social capitalism" and is heavily influenced by
Catholic social teaching Catholic social teaching, commonly abbreviated CST, is an area of Catholic doctrine concerning matters of human dignity and the common good in society. The ideas address oppression, the role of the state (polity), state, subsidiarity, social o ...
or, more generally,
Christian ethics Christian ethics, also known as moral theology, is a multi-faceted ethical system: it is a virtue ethic which focuses on building moral character, and a deontological ethic which emphasizes duty. It also incorporates natural law ethics, whic ...
. In addition to this objective, the PDC also supports a strong national government while remaining more conservative on social issues. However, after Pinochet's military regime ended the PDC embraced more classical economic policies compared to before the dictatorship. The current Secretary-General of the PDC is Gonzalo Duarte. In their latest "Ideological Congress", the Christian Democrats criticized Chile's current economic system and called for a shift toward a social market economy (''economía social de mercado''). The PDC had cooperated with centre-left parties after the end of Pinochet rule until it left the centre-left coalition New Social Pact. Except during the military dictatorship (1973–1990) when the congress was shut down the Christian Democrat Party was the largest party in parliament from 1965 to 2001. In 2022 the party has faced a severe internal crisis, with many prominent politicians leaving it.


History

The origins of the party go back to the 1930s, when the
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
split between traditionalist and social-Christian sectors. In 1935, the social-Christians split from the Conservative Party to form the ''Falange Nacional'' (National Phalanx), a more socially oriented and centrist group. The Falange Nacional showed their centrist policies by supporting leftist
Juan Antonio Ríos Juan Antonio Ríos Morales (; November 10, 1888 – June 27, 1946) was a Chilean political figure who served as president of Chile from 1942 to 1946, during the height of World War II. He died in office. Early life Ríos was born at the ''Hu ...
( Radical Party of Chile) in the 1942 presidential elections but Conservative
Eduardo Cruz-Coke Eduardo Cruz-Coke Lassabe (April 22, 1899 – March 18, 1974) was a Chilean political figure, the conservative candidate in Chile's 1946 presidential election and the principal creator of the Chilean health system. Cruz-Coke was born in Valp ...
in the 1946 elections. Despite the creation of the Falange Nacional, many social-Christians remained in the Conservative Party, which in 1949 split into the Social Christian Conservative Party and the Traditionalist Conservative Party. On July 28, 1957, primarily to back the presidential candidacy of Eduardo Frei Montalva, the Falange Nacional, Social Christian Conservative Party, and other like-minded groups joined to form the Christian Democratic Party. Frei lost the elections, but presented his candidacy again in 1964, this time also supported by the right-wing parties. That year, Frei triumphed with 56% of the vote. Despite right-wing backing for his candidacy, Frei declared his planned social revolution would not be hampered by this support. In 1970,
Radomiro Tomic Radomiro Tomic Romero (7 May 1914 – 3 January 1992) was a Chilean politician of Croatian origin. He was one of the most prominent leaders of that country's Christian Democratic Party. Born in Calama, Tomic received his law degree from the Un ...
, leader of the left-wing faction of the party, was nominated to the presidency, but lost to socialist Salvador Allende. The Christian Democrat vote was crucial in the Congressional confirmation of Allende's election, since he had received less than the necessary 50%. Although the Christian Democratic Party voted to confirm Allende's election, they declared themselves as part opposition because of Allende's economic policy. By 1973, Allende has lost the support of most Christian Democrats (except for Tomic's left-wing faction), some of whom even began calling for the military to step in. By the time of Pinochet's coup, most Christian Democrats applauded the military takeover, believing that the government would quickly be turned over to them by the military. Once it became clear that Pinochet had no intention of relinquishing power, the Christian Democrats went into opposition. During the 1981 plebiscite where Chilean voted to extend Pinochet's term for eight more years, Eduardo Frei Montalva led the only authorized opposition rally. When political parties were legalized again, the Christian Democratic Party, together with most left-wing parties, agreed to form the Coalition of Parties for the No, which opposed Pinochet's reelection on the 1988 plebiscite. This coalition later became
Coalition of Parties for Democracy A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...
once Pinochet stepped down from power and held together until 2010s.


Transition to democracy

During the first years of the return to democracy, the Christian Democrats enjoyed wide popular support. Presidents Patricio Aylwin and Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle were both from that party, and it was also the largest party in Congress. However, the Christian Democrat
Andrés Zaldívar José Andrés Rafael Zaldívar Larraín, (born March 18, 1936) popularly known as ''El Chico Zaldívar'' ("Short Zaldívar"), is a prominent Chilean Christian Democrat politician. Andrés Zaldívar is of Basque descent. Early years Zaldívar wa ...
lost the
Coalition of Parties for Democracy A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...
1999 primaries to socialist Ricardo Lagos. In the parliamentary elections of 2005, the Christian Democrats lost eight seats in Congress, and the right-wing Independent Democratic Union became the largest party in the legislative body. The Christian Democrats lost its influence to the socialists after Michelle Bachelet became president. For much of the 1990s and 2000s the party contained three main factions; "Guatones", "Chascones" and "Colorines" (lit. Fatsos, Disheveleds and Redheads). The Colorines owed their name to the hair color of
Adolfo Zaldívar Miguel Adolfo Gerardo Zaldívar Larraín (September 13, 1943 – February 27, 2013) was a Chilean politician and lawyer. He was senator for Aisén and from March 2008 until his death in February 2013 he had been President of the Chilean Senate ...
and were the right-wing faction of the party. The Chascones led by
Gabriel Silber In Abrahamic religions ( Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብ ...
and
Gabriel Ascencio Gabriel Héctor Ascencio Mansilla (born 8 July 1953) is a Chilean politician and lawyer who served as deputy of his country. In 2021, he announced his retirement of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile The Chamber of Deputies ( es, Cámara de ...
were the left-wing faction and the Guatones owed their label for being "close to power" through the figures of Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle and Patricio Aylwin, both of them Presidents of Chile. In recent years, the Christian Democrats have favored abortion in three cases (when a pregnancy threatens the mother's life, when the fetus has little chance of survival, and when the pregnancy is a result of rape), but not in any other instances, and opposes elective abortion. The Christian Democrats left the Nueva Mayoría coalition on 29 April 2017 and nominated current party president
Carolina Goic Carolina Nevenka Goić Borojević (born 20 December 1972, Puerto Natales) is a Chilean politician, currently serving as president of the Chilean Christian Democratic Party (PDC). She is a Senator for Magallanes, former Deputy for the 60th dist ...
as their candidate for the 2017 presidential election. The Nueva Mayoria has struggled to remain united as differences have opened up within the coalition over approaches to a government reform drive, including changes to the labour code and attempted reform of Chile's strict abortion laws. In 2020, all Christian Democrats senators voted in favour of same-sex marriage. in 2020 the party gave its support for "Approve" in the
2020 Chilean national plebiscite The 2020 Chilean national plebiscite was held in Chile on 25 October 2020. The referendum asked whether a new constitution should be drafted, and whether it should be drafted by a constitutional convention, made up by members elected directly f ...
After the 2019–2021 Chilean protests most of La Nueva Mayoria including the PDC regrouped to form
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 participated in the 2021 constitutional convention election (as The Approval List) and the 2021 gubernatorial elections After those elections the group renamed to New Social Pact to participate in the 2021 general election, PDC senator Yasna provoste was chosen as the coalitions candidate, after she lost the first round the PDC supported Gabriel Boric for the second round, in which Boric won the election. After Boric won the election, most of the New Social Pact parties supported joining Boric's government, on the other hand the Christian Democrat's president, Ximena Rincon, said that the party would be a "constructive opposition" and said that any member joining the government should have to resign to the party After this the PDC was excluded from the new coalition "Democratic socialism".


2022 crisis

The official support of the party for the "Approve" option in the
2022 Chilean national plebiscite The 2022 Chilean national plebiscite was held on 4 September 2022, in order to determine whether the public agreed with the text of a new Political Constitution of the Republic drawn up by the Constitutional Convention. It was commonly referre ...
has led a severe interal division, with various members openly supporting the "Reject" option and subsequent calls for them to be expelled. Some historic figures, like
René Cortázar For his father, the agronomist and researcher, see :es:René Cortázar Sagarminaga, René Cortázar Sagarminaga. René Cortázar (Santiago, February 29, 1952) is a Chilean economist, researcher, academic, and politician of the Christian Democratic ...
, Soledad Alvear,
Gutenberg Martínez Gutenberg Alejandro Martínez Ocamica (born 29 August 1950) is a Chilean politician who served as President of the Chamber of Deputies and as a member of the Chamber of Deputies, representing District 21 of Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also kno ...
and
José Pablo Arellano José Pablo Arellano Marin (Santiago, March 18, 1952) is an economist, academic, researcher, company director, consultant and Chilean politician, current member of Amarillos por Chile. He was Minister of Education under the governments of Eduar ...
left the party by their own initiative to join
Cristián Warnken Cristián Warnken (born January 28, 1961) is a Chilean literature professor, columnist, Interview (journalism), interviewer, radio personality, podcast, podcaster, and television presenter. In 2020 he interviewed President Sebastián Piñera. War ...
's Amarillos movement.
Ximena Rincón Ximena Cecilia Rincón González (born 5 July 1968) is a Chilean lawyer and politician. She is formerly Chile's Labor Minister and former Ministry General Secretariat of the Presidency (Chile), Minister Secretary-General of the Presidency under ...
and
Matías Walker Matías Vicente Walker Prieto (born 19 July 1973) is a Chilean politician who currently serves as a member of the Senate of Chile. Similarly, he served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile The Chamber of Deputies ( es, Cámara d ...
left the party in October 2022 to form the political movement Demócratas together with Carlos Maldonado and others. Also in October, Governor of Santiago Metropolitan Region
Claudio Orrego Claudio Benjamín Orrego Larraín (born 20 December 1966) is a Chilean people, Chilean lawyer, Christian Democrat Party of Chile, Christian Democrat politician, and, since 14 July 2021, the governor of the Santiago Metropolitan Region. Orrego is ...
left the party. Fuad Chahín who was president of the party from 2018 to 2021 was "suspended" from the party in early November 2022.


Presidents elected under Christian Democratic Party

* Eduardo Frei Montalva (1964–1970) * Patricio Aylwin (1990–1994) * Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle (1994–2000)


Presidential candidates

The following is a list of the presidential candidates supported by the Christian Democratic Party. (Information gathered from th
Archive of Chilean Elections
. *
1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
: Eduardo Frei Montalva (lost) *
1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...
: Eduardo Frei Montalva (won) *
1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...
:
Radomiro Tomic Radomiro Tomic Romero (7 May 1914 – 3 January 1992) was a Chilean politician of Croatian origin. He was one of the most prominent leaders of that country's Christian Democratic Party. Born in Calama, Tomic received his law degree from the Un ...
(lost) * 1988 plebiscite: "No" (won) *
1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
: Patricio Aylwin (won) *
1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...
: Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle (won) *
1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
: Ricardo Lagos (won) *
2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
: Michelle Bachelet (won) *
2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
: Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle (lost) *
2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
: Michelle Bachelet (won) *
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
:
Carolina Goic Carolina Nevenka Goić Borojević (born 20 December 1972, Puerto Natales) is a Chilean politician, currently serving as president of the Chilean Christian Democratic Party (PDC). She is a Senator for Magallanes, former Deputy for the 60th dist ...
(lost) Second round support:
Alejandro Guillier Alejandro René Eleodoro Guillier Álvarez (born 5 March 1953) is a Chilean sociologist, television and radio journalist, and independent politician. He is a Senator of the 2nd District of Antofagasta and was the 2017 Presidential candidate of ...
(lost) *
2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
: Yasna Provoste (lost) Second round support:
Gabriel Boric Font 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 o ...
(won)


Election results


References


Further reading

*


External links


Official web site
{{Chilean political parties Catholic social teaching Political parties established in 1957 Political parties in Chile Christian democratic parties in South America 1957 establishments in Chile Centrist parties in South America