Political system of Chile

The political system of the South American country Chile was shaped until 2005 by the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in the 1970s and 1980s; the 1980 constitution, which is still in force today, was passed under him. It was not until the constitutional reform of 2005 that the last remnants of the dictatorship were removed.

State system today

Palacio de la Moneda , seat of the Chilean President

Chile is a presidential republic . The constitution drawn up by the military government dates back to 1980 and was adopted with 67% in a referendum that was held under great pressure and did not meet democratic criteria . On August 16, 2005, the Chilean parliament once again amended the constitution on important points that had been added by Pinochet.

executive

The president , who is also head of government following the US model, is elected for a four-year term of office. The term of office was extended in the 1980 constitution from 6 to 8 years and changed several times after the end of the dictatorship (changed to four years in 2005). The president can serve several terms, but not one after the other. He appoints the ministers ( Ministros de Estado , 2005: 18 ministers) and sub-secretaries (comparable to state secretaries ; 2005: 30) as well as the regional directors (one for the capital region and one for the regions) and provincial governors (one per province). He can issue decrees that have the force of law within a framework established by the constitution . He can also appoint two so-called “institutional senators” and the top commanders of the armed forces. More information on this under Senate .

See also: List of Presidents of Chile

legislative branch

The legislature ( Congreso Nacional ) consists of two chambers. The first Chilean Congress was formed on July 4, 1811 by resolution (1810) of the government junta.

The Chamber of Deputies ( Cámara de Diputados ) consists of 120 direct elections. The whole country is divided into 60 constituencies, in which two MPs are elected every four years. As a rule, one member is elected from the ruling party and one member from the opposition. However, the first-placed party alliance provides both MPs if it receives twice as many votes as the opposition electoral alliance. This binomial electoral system prevents smaller parties from being elected to parliament.

The Senate ( Senado ) has only 38 elected members. The elected senators come from 19 electoral districts. Half of the senators are elected every four years for an eight-year term.

Judiciary

Palace of Justice in Santiago : Seat of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal

The Supreme Court ( Corte Suprema de Justicia ) is a collegial court with 21 judges. It is the highest judicial authority in Chile. The judges are proposed by the judges of the Supreme Court and appointed for life by the president. The constitutional court can ban undemocratic parties. Under the Supreme Court is of Appeal settled. In addition, there are 17 appellate courts in Chile.

The Chilean criminal justice system is currently being gradually modernized. A judicial reform is intended to separate the tasks of the prosecutor (public prosecutor) and the judge and to negotiate in a public oral hearing instead of the previous written procedure. Low-income defendants can use a state public defender. For this new justice system, 300 new courthouses will have to be built in numerous Chilean cities.

History of the constitution

Chile has been ruled democratically since 1833, apart from a few months of short-lived dictatorial regimes and the dictatorship of Pinochet from 1973 to 1990. Except during the so-called “Parliamentary Republic” from 1891 to 1925, the country was always governed by a presidential system.

Until 1973

Old constitutions

List of the constitutions of Chile to date

• Reg Parlamento para el arreglo de la Autoridad Ejecutiva Provisoria de Chile 1811
• Reglamento Constitucional 1812
• Reglamento para el gobierno provisional 1814
• Constitución de 1818
• Constitución de 1822
• Constitucion de 1823
• Constitución de 1828
• Constitución de 1833
• Constitución de 1925
• Constitucion de 1980

Reform under Frei 1970

Under the populist President Arturo Alessandri , the left-wing authoritarian putschist and later President Colonel Carlos Ibáñez pushed through the adoption of a new constitution in 1925, with which the phase of the so-called “Parliamentary Republic” that had lasted since the victory of the Congress Party in the Chilean civil war of 1891 ended and a presidential one again Democracy was introduced. Under President Eduardo Frei Montalva , a constitutional reform was passed in 1970 that further expanded the president's power. According to a comparative study by Carey / Shugart (1992), of the 44 presidential constitutions, the Chilean constitution was the one that gave the president the most powers (more than the constitution created during the dictatorship of 1980). The influence of Congress was severely curtailed, particularly in the areas of legislation and the state budget.

1980 Constitution

aims

The dictatorial regime wanted to legitimize its rule internally and externally. In addition, an institutionalized distribution of power should be found between the other generals and Pinochet. Furthermore, the transition to a democracy should be determined, this transition pushed far into the future and, even after a transition, the supremacy of the military and the establishment of a radically market-oriented economy should be ensured. On the other hand, a powerful and independently acting president like Allende (under Frei's 1970 constitution) should be prevented.

Elaboration

As early as October 1978 a commission ( Comisión de Estudios de la Nueva Constitución ) presented a draft constitution. The main author of the draft was the student leader and government advisor Jaime Guzmán , who later founded the right-wing UDI party , who drafted the text together with the conservative ex-president Jorge Alessandri and the Pinochet minister Sergio Fernández . The draft was modified again by Pinochet and his military junta. In a vote that did not meet the democratic criteria, the constitution was adopted in September 1980. There were no electoral registers (these had been destroyed by the military in 1973), no alternative constitutional proposal, no free media, seven years of massive repression (which had led to the murder, emigration or intimidation of all opposition) and also evidence of manipulation. Augusto Pinochet was able to remain in office as President of the State until 1989 on the basis of the new constitution.

The executive

Chile has an extremely strong position of president. In particular, the “reactive”, that is, rights defending the status quo, are extensive, while “proactive”, that is, rights that change, are less pronounced.

The president is elected by direct election with an absolute majority (i.e. possibly with a runoff). He appoints the ministers who are responsible only to him and not to Parliament. The president can be removed from office by a two-thirds majority (only) of the Senate, ministers by simple majority. Although the president has no power to decree (i.e. laws without parliamentary approval), he does have broad areas in which he has the exclusive right to initiate legislation, such as the state's financial policy, minimum wages, and social security systems. In the state budget, the rights of the president are even more extensive. Parliament only has 60 days to discuss the budget proposal and, moreover, cannot decide to increase expenditure. All spending laws must identify the sources of funding. In the legislative process, the President can order different levels of urgency (with consultation periods of 60, 10 and 3 days), which, however, are often disregarded by Parliament. If the president veto laws, he can be overruled by a 2/3 majority of both chambers.

The military

→ Main article : Armed Forces of Chile

The National Security Council of Chile ( Consejo de Seguridad Nacional de Chile , COSENA) was an instrument with which the military leadership could actively intervene in politics. It decided on important issues, such as the dismissal of generals or the declaration of a state of emergency, and was a central body of Chile. He sat down together

• the four commanders-in-chief of the armed forces
• the president
• the President of the Senate
• the President of the Supreme Court

The Chilean armed forces have received direct income from copper mining since the “Copper Act” (ley 13.196) of 1958 . A LOC Pinochets stipulates that 10% of the export revenues of the state-owned copper company CODELCO (in US dollars) are available for military investments. In addition, a minimum level was set for the defense budget based on the (inflation-adjusted) budget from 1989. In a (feared) economic decline, the military would have become relatively more powerful.

The Carabineros de Chile (police) are the fourth type of armed forces (alongside the army , air force and navy ) in the Ministry of Defense .

The legislature

Chile has a two-chamber parliament with a House of Representatives and a Senate. The MPs are elected every four years in 60 constituencies according to the binomial electoral system , which favors the opposition rights. The Senate is composed of 26 elected (2 from each region, half-elected every four years) and nine appointed senators, viz

• four former commanders in chief, appointed by their respective branches of the armed forces
• two members appointed by the President: a former minister and a former university rector
• three Supreme Court appointed members: two former chief judges and one former chief inspector
• additionally for life: all presidents with a term of office of more than six years

The control of the executive is incumbent solely on the House of Representatives, which can make inquiries to members of the government that have to be answered without changing the policy. When it comes to shaping politics and legislation, the Chilean parliament is extremely weak, with both chambers having strongly symmetrical competencies (bicameral system). For example, 87% of the laws passed in the 1990s go back to initiatives by the president, although every member of parliament and senator can submit bills (for exceptions see: Executive).

Leyes Orgánicas Constitucionales

The Leyes Orgánicas Constitucionales (LOC), in German for example constitutional body laws , are, so to speak, a “second-class constitution”. They are not part of the constitution, but regulate central policy areas, such as the central bank, the constitutional court, the right to vote, the police and the military. In addition, there are increased hurdles for the change (4/7 of the members of both chambers of parliament).

1989 reform

see also transition in Chile

Framework of negotiations

The negotiations on the constitutional amendments of 1989 took place in a tense environment, namely between the referendum that Pinochet lost in October 1989 and the first free presidential elections more than a year later. Already on October 14, 1989 - days after the lost referendum - Pinochet made his claim to power clear: “si tocan a uno solo de mis hombres, se acaba el estado de derecho,” (“If you touch even one of my men, he is Rule of law ended. "). The opposition faced the dilemma of not endangering the democratization process on the one hand and, on the other hand, at least apparently legitimizing the imposed constitution of the military by approving the reforms.

Changes

• The president's term of office will be shortened from eight to six years, although the first democratic president is to step down after four years.
• The prohibition of class struggle doctrines will be lifted, but associations that are directed against the democratic order will be banned. Violent and totalitarian groups remain prohibited.
• Emergency powers of the president are restricted (for example, the right to eviction from the country).
• The number of elected senators will be increased from 26 to 38.
• The President can no longer dissolve Parliament.
• The National Security Council ( COSENA ) now has four (instead of) three civilians (and still four military personnel).
• The threshold for constitutional reforms will be lowered somewhat.

Changes Under Democratic Governments, 1990-2003

• April 1, 1991 (Law 19.055): Article 9 (Amendment of the Amnesty Rules)
• November 12, 1991 (Law 19.097): Articles 3 and 32.9 (administrative reform: democratization of the municipality, direct election of mayors)
• April 4, 1994 (Law 19.295): Article 25 (the term of office of the President is fixed at six years)
• September 16, 1997 (Law 19.519): Articles 19.3, 32.14, 49.8 y 9, 54, 73, 75 and 78
• November 17, 1997 (Law 19.526): Articles 62.2, 107, 109 and 110 (municipal reform)
• December 22, 1997 (Law 19.541): Articles 32.14, 49.9, 75, 77.4, 79.2 and 81 (Judicial Reform: Amendment to the Supreme Court)
• January 14, 1999 (Law 19.597): Article 74
• June 16, 1999 (Law 19.611): Articles 1 and 19 (Legal equality between men and women)
• October 2, 1999 (Law 19.634): Article 19.10 (Recognition of Kindergarten Education)
• November 4, 1999 (Law 19.643): Articles 26, 27 and 84
• April 29, 2000 (Law 19.671): Article 117 (Association of the two chambers of parliament for constitutional amendments)
• April 28, 2000 (Law 19.672): Article 30 (Status of Former Presidents)
• August 25, 2001 (Law 19.742): Articles 19.12 and 19.25 (abolition of censorship for the cinema and creation of the right to free artistic expression)
• May 22, 2003 (Law 19.876): Article ??? (Media class)

2005 Constitution

Law 20.050 of August 26, 2005 changed the constitution in 58 places. Important advances have been made in limiting the influence of the military on politics and eliminating undemocratic elements of the legislature. The most important innovations concern:

• the Constitutional Court is expanded from 7 to 10 judges, all appointed by the President, Senate or Supreme Court; none from Army or COSENA .
• Abolition of the appointed senators : So far, for example, representatives of the four branches of the army and ex-presidents automatically become senators. In addition to the 38 elected, there are also nine unelected in the Senate. This will be abolished with the constitutional amendment.
• Reduce the President's term of office from six to four years. One of the motives was that the parliamentary and presidential elections can now be held at the same time in order to avoid majorities in parliament opposing the president.
• Reduction of the minimum age for presidents and senators from 40 to 35 years.
• Removal of generals : The president can now independently remove the commanders-in-chief of the four branches of the armed forces and no longer has to obtain the approval of the COSENA (National Security Council), in which the commanders-in-chief are represented.
• COSENA : The Security Council can only be convened by the President and has been expanded to include civilian members (so that the military are now in the minority).
• Officers are no longer allowed to run for Congress.
• the Supreme Court now has supreme jurisdiction over the military courts even in a state of war.
• Article 90 no longer specifies the role of the military as “guardian of the constitution”
• Electoral system : Chile's binomial electoral system will not be abolished, but is no longer anchored in the constitution (which is difficult to change), but in the Ley orgánico constitucional , which is still relatively difficult to reform (60% instead of a 2/3 majority in both chambers).
• Nationality : Anyone born abroad to a Chilean child is now automatically a Chilean, not after one and a half years of residence in Chile.

Political parties

Traditionally, parties in South America are less important in the process of forming political opinions than in Europe . The reasons given are the predominantly presidential systems of government , caudillismo , economic inequality or the low democratic awareness of the political class. The party landscape in Chile plays a special role here, because parties played an important role in the political system in this country until the Pinochet coup . With the victory of the parliamentary forces in the civil war of 1891, strict presidentialism was rejected. This tendency continued after the later constitutional changes that restored the presidential system. The dictatorship from 1973 onwards represented an absolute break. With the renewed approval of parties in 1987, a completely new era in Chilean party history began.

Tripartite division of the party spectrum

According to the theory of conflict lines ( cleavage theory ), parties always arise along the major conflicts of a society. The American political scientist Michael Coppedge emphasizes (1998) that those lines of conflict shape the party landscape that were in the foreground at the time of democratization and the first political participation of broader sections of the population.

The basic conflict between liberals and conservatives, which shaped the party landscape in the other Latin American states more clearly than in Chile, was already being fought here at a time when the bulk of the population could not yet take part in elections. When the foundations of a parliamentary system of government were anchored in the civil war of 1891, the most important cleavage still lay in the dispute between liberals and conservatives over the influence of the church. As early as 1857 a clerical party had been established with the conservatives and four years later a bourgeois-secular party with the radicals . In the phase from 1891 to 1918, however, the church conflict was gradually overshadowed and pushed into the background by the social question, which had moved into public awareness since the 1880s, and the class struggle between employers and workers. This conflict became the dominant theme in the second phase from 1918 to 1958. Thus in 1912 the third pillar of the party spectrum emerged with the workers' parties (which were later partially united). The electorate and the party system were now divided into three ideologically clearly separated and roughly equally strong blocs: the conservatives, the middle class, and the workers' proletariat. In the 1960s the system changed: Conservatives and liberals merged, the left-wing liberal radicals disappeared, the Christian Democrats emerged as a new force and the left united to form the collective movement Unidad Popular . Since the redemocratization after the end of the Pinochet dictatorship (fourth phase), the decisive break between supporters and opponents of the democratic system has been taking place, which has shaped the party system. This conflict is currently increasingly being displaced by the dispute over globalization and the new economic liberalism that is being brought into the country from the Latin American and worldwide context.

Suffrage

The right to vote in Chile was extended in several phases:

• After 1833, only men over 25 who met certain criteria for income and assets were allowed to vote ( census voting right ). When the basic features of the party system were established in 1864, just 0.01% of the population were allowed to vote.
• 1891–1918: After the presidential regime was defeated in the civil war of 1891 , the so-called “Parliamentary Republic” followed. Even so, only 5% of the population were allowed to vote in 1915.
• 1918–1958: In 1925 a new constitution, co-designed by the radicals, came into force, which finally abolished the censorship system and lowered the minimum age for participation in elections to 21. Nevertheless, until 1958, less than 20% of the population were eligible to vote.
• 1958–1973:
  • Although women’s right to vote was introduced in 1949 (according to other sources, 1952), women did not participate in the elections on a larger scale until the late 1950s. The radicals and the left had long opposed the introduction of women's suffrage, not entirely unfounded, because the majority of women voted for the conservatives.
  • In addition, the rural-urban migration meant that, for the first time, many former farm workers were free to choose (and were no longer under pressure from local landowners).
  • At the same time, the sharp rise in literacy meant that, despite the ban on illiterate voting that existed until 1970, more and more people could vote.
  • In 1958, voting secrecy was also introduced.
• The universal suffrage for all adults was first in the presidential elections from 1970 to fruition.

Party system until 1973

Origins of the party system

After the stabilization of the independent Republic of Chile in 1833, two groups shaped the political picture: the conservative Pelucones ("wig wearers ") under Diego Portales Palazuelos and Manuel Bulnes and the liberal Pipiolos ("little boys"), both originally disrespectful fighting terms of the respective political opponent. During the tenure of President Manuel Montt Torres, the Pelucones camp split into the Church-loyal Conservatives, who defended the position of Archbishop Valdivieso on the sexton question and gathered in the Conservative Party , which was founded in 1851 , and the secular nationalists, who wanted to separate from the state and the Church and founded the National Party in 1857 ( also called Montt-Varistas after the President Manuel Montt, who they supported, and his Interior Minister Antonio Varas ). From the Pipiolos emerged the Liberals in 1861 and, two years later, the strictly anti-clerical Radical Party , which gradually absorbed most of the nationalists (the remnants of the National Party merged with the Liberals in 1933). The positioning of the political parties that emerged in Chile around 1860 was thus along a religious-secular dividing line. The Liberal Party functioned in the resulting three-part system (loyalty to the church - moderate - anti-clerical) as a majority procurer for the other two parties that were at odds in the church conflict.

Emergence of workers' parties

The saltpeter war laid the basis for the emergence of a Chilean industry, with it a proletariat and thus workers' parties. In 1898, the sociedad de resistencia (resistance association), the first forerunner of the Chilean unions, was founded by railroad workers in Santiago. In 1907 the military crushed a strike in Iquique with great severity against the strikers and their families. According to current estimates, around 2000 to 3600 people were killed in the Santa María school ( Iquique massacre ). In 1912 the Socialist Workers' Party ( Partido Obrero Socialista POS) was founded, which ten years later was renamed Partido Comunista de Chile ( Communist Party of Chile).

In 1918 an alliance of liberals and radicals won the majority of the workers' votes and from 1920 onwards, Arturo Alessandri Palma became the president. But the upswing of the left workers' parties could not be stopped. In 1924/25 the Communist Party was allowed to vote. In 1933, the Socialist Party, the second important workers' party, was founded.

Institutionalization of the parties

In 1914, parties were first mentioned in a legal text (the electoral law). In the Constitution of 1925 , the rights of the parties have been defined in detail.

The time of the radicals

In 1932 constitutional order was restored and the Radicals proved to be the leading party for the next twenty years . They increased the state's influence on economic life and began with import-substituting industrialization . Under the Conservative presidency of the 1950s, the Communist Party was banned and some of its leaders and supporters, including the poet Pablo Neruda , were forced into exile .

The time of the Christian Democrats

Great opponents of the conservatives, who won the presidential election for the last time in 1958 with their candidate Jorge Alessandri , were the Christian Democrats , founded in 1957 , who were strictly anti-communist, but were moderately left-wing by European standards on questions of social policy . Since they were out of the question as partners for the right-wing parties due to their clear social answer to the question of farm workers, three party groups faced each other irreconcilably in the 1960s: the Nationalists, the Christian Democrats and the two left-wing parties.

Polarization and Unidad Popular

In 1969, the forces of the left founded the Unidad Popular (UP) , an electoral alliance to which several small Marxist and Christian parties belonged in addition to the communists , the socialists and the radicals . This alliance put Salvador Allende , who had run for the Socialist Party in 1964, as a presidential candidate for the elections in 1970.

The dictatorship

Immediately after the coup , the military regime banned the left parties of the Unidad Popular. A large part of their party leadership was tortured and killed, most of the others had to flee into exile, where exile party structures were built.

Prohibition and self-dissolution of the parties

The Christian Democrats had supported the coup just like the nationalists. Both parties hoped for participation in the new government and only a short period of dictatorship (as it had already existed for a few months in the 1920s). Even so, the nationalists disbanded and the Christian Democrats were "suspended". In addition to personal support from the center-right parties, the Pinochet regime relied on members of the military government and allegedly apolitical technocratic economic advisers ( Chicago Boys ).

The emergence of the Concertación

Most parties underwent profound changes during the dictatorship. The Partido Socialista became social democratic, the Christian Democrats went into the (also illegal) opposition to the regime and opened up to cooperation with the PS. Thanks to its roots in the church (which had been critical of Pinochet in parts as early as 1973), the PCD was able to become the greatest oppositional force. When some parties were re-admitted in 1987 (the PS not, the Partido por la Democracia PPD was founded to replace it ), socialists, Christian Democrats and 15 other parties created the Concertación de Partidos por el No to vote for a “No” at the plebiscite from 1989, and thus against the dictatorship under Augusto Pinochet. From this alliance, the Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia emerged, an alliance of parties that consistently provided the president until 2010.

Parties since 1987

Speech duel on October 19, 2005

According to the more or less imposed constitution of 1980 , the transition period of Pinochet's dictatorship was to come to an end in 1988. Therefore, from 1987 onwards, parties were admitted again. Even then, society was deeply divided in its judgment on the dictatorship, as can be seen from the result of the referendum in 1988, when 46% of voters voted for their dictator to preside over another eight years. This split is evident in the party spectrum to this day. The Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia emerged from the opposition parties, the Alianza por Chile from the two parties that supported Pinochet to the end. Another reason for forming alliances is the binomial electoral system . In contrast to the 1960s and 1970s, however, in the area of ​​economic and social policy there is broad consensus between all parties represented in parliament on the liberal market and open to the world market. The very sharp cleavage between pinochetistas and the dictator's opponents also seems to be weakening until the end of the 1990s . For example, in 2005 a democratic constitutional reform was adopted by a two-thirds majority by both chambers. It also makes the party alliances more likely to break up.

Chile's election campaigns are among the most expensive in the world. The very Americanized election campaign with speeches and huge television campaigns costs Chile about 1% of GDP , twice as much as in the USA relative to the economy .

Concertación

The Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia is an alliance of four center-left parties that actively participated in the overthrow of the military dictatorship. This is made up of the parties “Christian Democratic Party” ( Partido Demócrata Cristiano , PDC), “Radical and Social Democratic Party” ( Partido Radical Social Demócrata , PRSD), “Democratic Party” ( Partido por la Democracia , PPD) and “Socialist Party “( Partido Socialista , PS) composing alliance represents 57 of 120 members of parliament in 2009. The PDC is the strongest political force in the alliance, followed by the PPD and the PS as well as the PRSD.

Alianza por Chile

Final rally of the UDI on December 7, 2005

The Alianza por Chile is a right-wing conservative alliance of the parties “Conservative National Renewal Party” ( Renovación Nacional , RN), which stands in the tradition of the National Party, and “Independent Democratic Union” ( Unión Demócrata Independiente , UDI), which represents the interests of the military stands in the tradition of dictatorship. The UDI was founded in 1983 by Jaime Guzmán Errázuriz . In 1989, both campaigned for an extension of the military dictatorship. The UDI has 33 members, the RN 19 members. Together with independent candidates, the Alianza has 57 of 120 members of parliament.

In the meantime, both parties have broken away from the dictatorship. The RN in particular has a young party leadership that is not personally involved in any crimes under Pinochet.

The two opposition leaders Joaquín Lavín (UDI) and Sebastián Piñera (RN) are considered bitter rivals. Both competed against each other and against Michelle Bachelet in the presidential election on December 11, 2005 . Sebastián Piñera, who is critical of the military dictatorship, wanted to win the votes of the Christian Democratic voters in a second ballot and thus break the confrontation between the left and right bloc, which had existed since 1988, in favor of a new center made up of Christian Democrats and RN. However, immediately after the election, in second place, he announced that he would involve Lavín in an important position in his team.

Juntos Podemos Más

The left-wing alliance Juntos Podemos Más ( together we can do more , but Podemos is an acronym for Poder Democrático Social ) includes the Christian Left, the Humanist Party, the Communist Party and some other left and left-liberal splinter parties. However, due to the binomial right to vote, these parties were not represented in parliament until 2009. In these elections, 3 communist members of parliament were able to enter parliament through an electoral alliance with the Concertación.

Election results

→ Main article : Election results in Chile

Unlike in Germany , for example, there are large differences between the sexes in Chile when it comes to voting behavior. In all major national elections since 1989, women have tended to vote on the right and men on the left. In the presidential election, the left-wing candidate Bachelet was able to reverse this tendency.

In contrast, regional differences are relatively small. The II., III., IV. And XII. Region choose relatively left, the I., V., IX., X. and XI. and some of the Región Metropolitana also choose a little more to the right than the average, but the deviations are generally not very large.

Presidential elections since 1989

Presidential elections Share of votes cast. (in brackets: name of candidate and party) Source: website of the Chilean Ministry of the Interior
alliance	1989	1993	1999/2000	2005/2006	2009/2010	2013
Concertación	55.2% ( Aylwin , PDC )	57.9% ( free , PDC )	47.96% (51.3%) ( Lagos , PS )	46.0% (54%) ( Bachelet , PS )	29.6% (48.4%) ( Free , PDC )
Alianza por Chile	29.4% / 15.4% ( Büchi / Errázuriz )	24.3% ( Alessandri , UDI )	47.51% (48.7%) ( Lavín , UDI )	25.4% / 23.2% (46%) ( Piñera , RN / Lavín , UDI , ( Piñera ))	44.1% (51.6%) ( Piñera , RN )

House of Representatives since 1989

The 4th party system (since 1989): Seats in the House of Representatives (in brackets: percentage of votes cast) Source: Website of the Chilean Ministry of the Interior
Alliance / party	1989	1993	1997	2001	2005	2009
Concertación	69 (51.5%)	70 (55.4%)	69 (50.5%)	62 (47.9%)	65 (51.8%)	57 (44.4%) 1st
DC	38 (26.0%)	37 (27.1%)	38 (23.0%)	23 (18.9%)	20 (20.8%)	19 (14.2%)
PS	-	15 (11.9%)	11 (11.1%)	10 (10.0%)	15 (10.1%)	11 (10.0%)
PPD	16 (11.5%)	15 (11.8%)	16 (12.6%)	20 (13%)	21 (15.4%)	18 (12.7%)
PR / PRSD	5 (3.9%)	2 (3.0%)	4 (3.1%)	6 (4.1%)	7 (3.5%)	5 (3.8%)
Independent of the concerta, others	10 (9.9%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.8%)	3 (2.2%)	2 (2.0%)	1 (1.8%)
Alianza por Chile / Coalición por el Cambio	48 (34.2%)	50 (36.7%)	47 (36.2%)	57 (44.3%)	54 (38.7%)	58 (43.4%)
UDI	11 (9.8%)	15 (12.1%)	17 (14.5%)	31 (25.2%)	33 (22.4%)	37 (23.0%)
RN	29 (18.3%)	29 (16.3%)	23 (16.8%)	18 (13.8%)	19 (14.1%)	18 (17.8%)
Independent of the Alianza, others	8 (6.1%)	6 (8.0%)	7 (5.0%)	8 (5.3%)	2 (2.2%)	3 (2.3%)
Left ( Podemos etc.)	2 (5.3%)	0 (7.8%)	0 (10.4%)	0 (6.3%)	0 (7.4%)	(3 (2.0%)) 1
Rest (regional, independent, prog.)	1 (8.7%)	0 (0.11%)	4 (2.8%)	1 (1.5%)	1 (2.1%)	5 (12.2%)
overall elected	120	120	120	120	120	120

1) In the 2009 parliamentary elections, the Concertación and Juntos Podemos Más ran in an electoral alliance, the 3 seats of the PCCh are included in the 57 seats of the Concertación.

Senate since 1989

The Senate was fully elected in 1989 (38 elected). There were also 9 appointed senators (abolished in 2006), most of whom were on the side of the Alianza. In the following in 1993, 2001, 2009 ... in regions I., III., V., VII., IX., XI. elected and in 1997, 2005, ... in regions II., IV. VI., VIII., X., XII. and Metropolitana. Regions I. - IV. And X. - XII. provide two senators and regions V. - IX. and Metropolitana four each. That is why 18 and 20 new Senate seats are alternately elected. Voting is also based on the binomial voting system . So far, in every election in every region, the Senate seats have been allocated symmetrically to the Concertación and the Alianza pro Chile (or their predecessor alliances), except

• 1989 in the VI. Region (O'Higgins): 2 Concertación, 0 Alianza
• 1989 in Region VII (Maule): 3 Concertación, 1 Alianza
• 1989 in the XII. Region (Magallanes): 2 Concertación, 0 Alianza
• 1993 in the VII region (Maule): 4 Concertación, 2 Alianza
• 1997 in the XIII: Region (Bío Bío): 3 Concertación, 1 Alianza

The 4th party system (since 1989): seats in the Senate Every four years about half the Senate is up for election. (in brackets: percentage of votes cast) Source: Website of the Chilean Ministry of the Interior
Alliance / party	1989	1993	1997	2001	2005	2009
Concertación	21st	10	11	9	11	9 1
DC	14th	0	10	2	5	4th
PS	-	3	1	4th	4th	2
PPD	3	3	0	2	1	3
PR / PRSD	2	4th	0	0	1 (2%)	0
Independent of the Concerta	2	0	0	0	0 (1%)	0
Concertación entire seats	21st	21st	21st	19th	19th	19th
Alianza por Chile	17th	8th	9	9	8th	9
UDI	3	2	7th	5	5	3
RN	5	5	2	4th	3	6th
Independent of the Alianza	9	1	0	0	0	0
Alianza entire seats	17th	17th	17th	19th	19th	16
Rest ( Podemos , Unab.)	0	0	0	0	1	0 1
all newly elected	38	18th	20th	18th	20th	18th
Appointed Senators	9				- (from 06)
Entire Senate	47	47	47	47	38	38

1) In the parliamentary elections in 2009, the Concertación and Juntos Podemos Más competed in an electoral alliance.

Presidential elections 1952–1970

Election of September 4, 1952
Eligible to vote	1,105,023	18.4% of the population
voter turnout	957.102	86.6% of eligible voters
Carlos Ibáñez del Campo	446,439	46.8%
Arturo mat	265.357	27.8%
Pedro Alfonso	190,360	19.9%
Salvador Allende	51,975	5.5%

Election of September 4, 1958
Eligible to vote	1,497,902	21.8% of the population
voter turnout	1,250,350	83.5% of eligible voters
Jorge Alessandri	389.909	31.6%
Salvador Allende	356.493	28.8%
Eduardo Frei Montalva	255.769	20.7%
Luis Bossay	192.077	15.6%
Antonio Zamorano	41,304	3.3%

Election of September 4, 1964
Eligible to vote	2,915,121	36.6% of the population
voter turnout	2,530,697	86.8% of eligible voters
Eduardo Frei	1,409,012	46.1%
Salvador Allende	977.902	38.9%
Julio Duran	125,233	5.0%

Election of September 4, 1970
Eligible to vote	3,539,747	36.2% of the population
voter turnout	2,954,799	83.5% of eligible voters
Salvador Allende	1,070,334	36.6%
Jorge Alessandri	1,031,159	35.3%
Radomiro Tomic	821,801	28.1%

House of Representatives 1925–1972

Elections to the House of Representatives ( Cámara de Diputados ) from 1925 to 1972. Share of votes in%.
Political party	1925	1932	1937	1941	1945	1949	1953	1957	1961	1965	1969	1972
Conservatives ( PCU )	19.8	19.0	21.3	17.2	23.6	21.1	10.1	13.7	14.7	5.3	20.4 (with PL)
Liberals ( PL and predecessors)	-	18.3	20.7	14.0	17.9	18.0	10.9	15.4	16.6	7.5	20.4 (with PCU)
Radicals ( PR )	21.4	18.1	18.6	20.7	20.0	21.7	13.3	21.5	22.2	13.7	13.6	3.6
Socialists ( PS )	-	5.7	11.2	16.8	7.2	3.4	5.4	4.4	11.2	10.6	12.7	18.4
Communists ( pc )	-	1.0	4.2	14.6	10.2	-	-	-	11.8	12.7	16.7	16.0
Christian Democrats ( DC )	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	16.0	43.6	31.0
UP ( PS , PC , PR , PSD , MAPU , API, CI)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		43.3

Trade unions and employers' associations

Traditionally, both entrepreneurs and trade unions have a high weight in politics in Chile. On the employee side, the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores de Chile (CUT) is the main political actor, while the unions, unlike in Germany, are only organized at company level and are therefore very fragmented. On the employers' side, it is less the umbrella organization Confederación de la Producción y del Comercio (CPC, formerly COPROCO) than the direct influence of large corporations and conglomerates that is decisive. These Grupos económicos were most important in the first half of the Pinochet regime (1973–1982), but still dominate large parts of the economy and have a great influence on politics.

→ Main article : “Trade unions and business associations” in the article on Economy of Chile

See also

• History of Chile
• Transition in Chile

literature

Constitution:

• Detlef Nolte: The political system: constitution and constitutional practice. In: P. Imbusch, D. Messner, D. Nolte (eds.): Chile today. Politics, economy, culture. Frankfurt 2004, ISBN 3-89354-590-5 .

Party system:

• Michael Coppedge: The Evolution of Latin American Party Systems. In: Scott Mainwaring, Arturo Valenzuela (Ed.): Politics, Society, and Democracy in Latin America. 1998, ISBN 0-8133-3726-7 (On the party system of Latin America, with a separate section on Chile, p. 180.)
• Ingrid Wehr: Lipset and Rokkan “a la latina”: Some considerations based on the Chilean party system. In: Ulrich Eith, Gerd Mielke (ed.): Social conflicts and party systems in an intercultural comparison . Opladen 2000.
• Willi Baer , Karl-Heinz Dellwo (eds.): Salvador Allende and the Unidad Popular , Laika-Verlag , Hamburg, 2013, ISBN 978-3-942281-64-5 .
• Willi Baer, ​​Karl-Heinz Dellwo (Eds. :) Dictatorship and Resistance in Chile , Laika-Verlag , Hamburg, 2013, ISBN 978-3-942281-65-2 .
• Willi Baer, ​​Karl-Heinz Dellwo (ed.): Post-dictatorship and social struggles in Chile , Laika-Verlag , Hamburg, 2013, ISBN 978-3-942281-66-9 .

Unions:

• Alan Angell: Politics and the Labor Movement in Chile. Oxford University Press, London 1972.
• Manuel Barrera et al. a .: Trade Unions and the State in Present Day Chile. United Nations Research Institute, Geneva 1986.
• Hartmut Grewe, Manfred Mols (Ed.): State and trade unions in Latin America. Schöningh, Paderborn 1994.
• Dieter Nohle: Chile - The socialist experiment. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 1973.
• Dieter Nolte: Between rebellion and integration - unions in Chilean politics. Breitenbach, Saarbrücken 1986.
• Jorge Rojas Hernández: The Chilean trade union movement 1973–1984. Campus Verlag, Frankfurt am Main / New York 1986.
• Lynn Stephen: Women and Social Movements in Latin America. University of Texas Press, Austin 1997.

Entrepreneur:

• Peter Imbusch : Entrepreneurs and Politics in Chile. Vervuert, Frankfurt am Main 1995.
• Peter Imbusch: Entrepreneurs and their associations as socio-political actors. In: Peter Imbusch u. a .: Chile today . Vervuert, Frankfurt am Main 2004.

Web links

• German translation of the constitution
• Constitutional text (Spanish)
• 1980 Constitution (English) (PDF file; 168 kB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Article 25
2. ↑ See M. Coppedge: The Dynamic Diversity of Latin American Party Systems. In: Party Politics . Volume 4, Issue 4, October 1998, pp. 547-68. Michael Coppedge teaches as Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame and has researched in particular on the history of political parties in Latin America.