Chile flag Chile: Economic and Political Overview

The political framework of Chile

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders
President: Gabriel BORIC (since 11 March 2022). The president is both chief of state and head of government.
Next Election Dates
General elections (National Congress and President): November 2025
Current Political Context
In November 2021, Chile held presidential elections and the left-wing candidate, Gabriel Boric, became the youngest president ever elected in Chile, at 35 years old, as well as the one elected with the highest number of votes in Chilean history. That same year, Chileans went to the ballot boxes to choose the 155 members of the convention intended to draw up the new constitution to replace the country's current military dictatorship-era constitution. The current constitution has been long criticised for contributing to inequality in the country, as it emphasises private property rights, including those over natural resources, and fails to offer social welfare guarantees. A new draft of the constitution was written in 2022, but 62% of Chileans voted against it. In January 2023, Congress reached a consensus on initiating a new constitutional process to rewrite the Constitution. This time, the process involved a Council comprised of 50 elected delegates and 24 experts. The new text of the constitution was approved by the Council on 30 October and put to a vote on 17 December through a referendum. However, the proposed constitution faced rejection by a margin of 12 points, with 56% of the electorate voting against it and 44% in favour, highlighting ongoing political polarization and social divisions.
The Boric government is unlikely to restart the reform process immediately, focusing instead on other pressing issues like crime and immigration.
Main Political Parties
Chilean political forces are divided between left, centre-left, and centre-right coalitions. After the 2021 general elections, centre-right coalition "Chile Podemos Más" kept their position as the largest bloc in both chambers, followed by the new left-wing coalition "Apruebo Dignidad" (the second largest bloc in the Chamber of Deputies). However, Apruebo Dignidad is the current ruling coalition.

Apruebo Dignidad (Approve Dignity) is a left coalition currently ruling, including:
- Communist Party of Chile (Partido Comunista de Chile): left-wing, communist, Marxist–Leninist
- Social Convergence (Convergencia Social): left-wing, libertarian socialist, anti-neoliberalist
- Democratic Revolution (Revolución Democrática): centre-left to left-wing, democratic socialist
- Commons (Comunes): left-wing, autonomist, feminist
- Humanist Action (Partido Humanista): left-wing, libertarian socialist, environmentalist
- Social Green Regionalist Federation (Federación Regionalista Verde Social): centre left to left-wing, green politics, sustainability

Chile Podemos Más (Chile, we can (do) more; former Chile Vamos!) is opposition centre-right coalition, composed of the following parties:
- National Renewal (RN): centre-right, conservative
- Independent Democratic Union (UDI): right-wing, conservative, liberal, Catholic
- Political Evolution (Evópoli): centre-right, liberal, conservative
- Republican Party (Partido Republicano; PLR): is a right-wing populist and conservative
- Democratic Independent Regionalist Party (PRI): centre to centre-right, regionalist
- Christian Social Party (PSC): religious and social conservatism

Democratic Socialism (Socialismo Democrático, SD): centre-left political coalition, composed of the following parties:
- Socialist Party (Partido Socialista de Chile): centre-left, social democratic, progressist
- Party for Democracy (Partido por la Democracia): centre-left, traditions of democratic socialism and liberal progressiveness
- Liberal Party of Chile (Partido Liberal de Chile): social-liberal
- Radical Party of Chile (Partido Radical de Chile): radical, social-liberal

Other parties represented in the Parliament include:
- Christian Democratic Party (Partido Demócrata Cristiano): centre, self-declared to bridge communism and capitalism
- Democrats (Demócratas; D): Christian democratic
- Party of the People (Partido de la Gente, PDG): centre-right, populist

Executive Power
The President is both the Chief of State and Head of Government, and holds the executive power. The President appoints the Cabinet and has the authority to remove the Commanders-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. He or She is elected by popular vote for a single four-year term and is not eligible for a consecutive re-election.
Legislative Power
The legislature is bicameral. The Parliament (or National Congress) consists of a Senate (the upper house) with its 50 members elected by popular vote to serve eight-year terms (with half of the membership elected alternatively every four years), and the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house) with its 155 members elected by popular vote to serve for four years. Elections follow the Hondt method (proportional representation). The citizens of Chile enjoy considerable political rights.
 

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

Definition:

The world rankings, published annually, measures violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position are assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire incorporating the main criteria (44 in total) to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. This questionnaire was sent to partner organisations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

World Rank:
54/180
 

Indicator of Political Freedom

Definition:

The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Ranking:
Free
Political Freedom:
1/7

Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House

 

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Latest Update: March 2024