Chilean Democratization

A history of Chilean democratization.


TODO: learn more history: some combination of the Communist Party and Pinochet I'm guessing

Democratization

In October 1988, a presidential plebiscite was held to choose between a second 8-year term for Pinochet, or outright free elections. About 56% of the public voted against the regime; Pinochet's government then drafted a series of constitutional amendments and put them forward for another referendum, now held in July 1989, and these too passed. Free elections were organized for later that year.

Patricio Aylwin led Concertación to win the December general election by a landslide. He was sworn in as president in March 1981, finally ending the Pinochet regime.

TODO: learn more history!

From 2011 through 2013, student protests

Social Outburst

In October 2019, mass protests began in response to a fare hike in the Santiago Metro, but more generally over worsening socioeconomic inequality. This was referred to variably as a estallido social (social outburst) or as a wave of octubrismo (Octoberism). It is considered to have lasted until the defeat of the second plebiscite in September 2022.

Sebastián Piñera attempted to suppress the protests by deploying the military and invoking security laws. In particular, use of medida cautelar (preventative prison) to detain protestors indefinitely without trial became widespread.

The government was nonetheless quickly forced to broker a cross-party agreement for a constitutional plebiscite. Held in October 2020, the public overwhelmingly voted to elect a Constitutional Convention to draft a new constitution. This election was held in May 2021, and remarkably the two party system collapsed; Vamos por Chile retained the first place position but fell short of a majority, Lista del Apruebo fell to fourth place, and over a third of the elected members were independent.

This dissolution of conventional politics continued into the November 2021 presidential election. After the first round, Boric of the Frente Amplio and José Antonio Kast of the Republican Party were left, both minor parties at the time. Boric ultimately won the presidency.

In a September 2022 plebiscite however, the drafted Political Constitution of the Republic was rejected by a large margin. In May 2023, mandatory elections were held for a new Constitutional Council. Rightist parties led by the Republicans won a three-fifth, veto-proof majority in this body. Both of these outcomes were considered major defeats for the Boric government. However, the public also rejected the new constitution draft in a December 2023 plebiscite. Altogether, it remains unclear if there is general support for rewriting the constitution.


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Chile/Democratization (last edited 2025-07-25 20:16:13 by DominicRicottone)