Benny Pollack

The Chilean Elections of 1989 and the PoUtics of the Transition to Democracy

The elections held in Chile on 14 December 1989 to choose a President and Congress were surely one ofthe most remarkable ways in which a democratic government has replaced an authoritarian regime. Less than two years before the election, President Pinochet enjoyed virtually unchallenged authority, while the opposition was in disarray. The economy had recovered from the slump of 1982-1983, and in comparison with most other economies in Latin America, the Chilean one was a success story. Why did Pinochet allow free elections, and accept the result? In a sense, Pinochet was the victim of his own cunning. Chile is a very constitutionally minded country. Pinochet accepted this tradition, and sought to legitimise his own government when in 1980 he presented a new constitution to the electorate for ratification in a plebiscite. The plebiscite was far from a perfect test of opinion, for there were no electoral registers, the opposition was barely able to campaign, and there was widespread suspicion of fraud. Nevertheless, the constitution was ratified in the plebiscite, and became the cornerstone of the governments claim to legitimacy. One of the pro visions of that constitution was that a single candidate would be chosen by the legislative junta (consisting of the commanders-in-chief of the armed forces) to be elected for an eight-year term of office. If that candidate were to be rejected, then there would be a free and competitive election for the presidency one year later. At the time ofthe ratification ofthe Constitution in 1980, this looked like a thinly disguised veil for a further eight years for Pinochet. But things went wrong. The economic collapse of 1982 led to massive social protests. At last the opposition parties, after several false starts, began to form a convincing coalition. Finally, the commanders-inchief of the air force, the police, and the navy made it clear that they would prefer a civilian candidate to Pinochet. However, Pinochet was able to impose himself as the single candidate of the regime, and offered himself for an eight-year presidency in a plebiscite in October 1988. He expected to win, but a briUiant opposition campaign and a lacklustre government campaign led to a decisive rejection of the General by

Dictatorship, democracy and corruption in Chile

The study of corruption in Chile suffers from the lack of a pre-existing body of academic research on which to draw for historical or contemporary analysis. This situation may be partially explained by several factors. Firstly, academic research tends to be reactive rather than proactive, in the sense that issues rarely become researched until they are either topical, or perceived to be problematic and significant. The configuration of historical circumstances in Chile has meant that corruption has been perceived to be considerably less widespread and less overt than in other parts of Latin America. For reasons which will be examined below, Chile is quite clearly not in the same league as Brazil, México or Venezuela in terms of corruption in the political system, and therefore the body of existing research has tended to focus on those cases where corruption is evident and more easily observable. Secondly, the lack of research material may also be partially explained by the nature of corruption in Chile. It undoubtably exists, but it has been characteristically low-key, assuming its own particular characteristics which have become known as “corrupción a la chilena”. Low-intensity corruption is undoubtedly more difficult to categorise, define and measure in comparison with flagrant abuses by individuals, sectors of society or ruling parties, and this may also be a contributory factor. A third factor may be that such low-intensity activities may become such an integral part of the political culture that they become accepted ways of the business of politics and therefore fail to even raise objections from public opinion. Only when the political environment changes do these issues become perceived as unacceptable. However, what is beyond dispute is that corruption has and does exist in Chile but it is influenced by the political culture of a particular period and by the political and social context.

From Left to Right: The Changing Identity of the Chilean Political Class

This article examines the changing role of important sections of the Chilean political elites, from a Keynesian and Marxist cultural political and economic ethos, to a post-modernist set of values profoundly influenced by the ideas of free markets and state withdrawal, as proposed by Hayek and Friedman. From strong support for, and identification with, the role of the state as agent of change, social justice and social mobility, significant sections of the Chilean political class have come to accept the globalisation of the world economy and its determination of internal politics. Values such as solidarity and equalitarianism have given way to individualism and selfishness. Whether these changes reflect genuine commitment or tactical adaptation remains to be seen, but they are likely anyway to undermine the legitimacy of the democratic regime which replaced the 16 year dictatorship of the military under General Augusto Pinochet. The lack of real alternative societal models does not augur well for the frag...