The refoundation of the State in Chile

Abstract

Transitions to democracy from authoritarian governments imply a rupture when passing from a State with Law to a State of Law. However, not all processes are rupturist, they can be reformist and this occurs when the personnel appointed in the non-democratic era continue to occupy the «State apparatus». This situation was experienced in Chile. The transition began with the plebiscite of October 5, 1988, in which the citizens rejected the political project of the dictatorship and, subsequently, with the victory of the Concertación por la Democracia in the 1989 elections, which implied support for the rupturist theses. However, a partial constitutional reform had been agreed upon, and the leaders of the Concertación, both Christian Democrats and Socialists, paralyzed any kind of mobilization and opted to implement reformist policies.
The behavior of the Concertación during the presidencies of Aylwin and Frei Ruiz Tagle, Christian Democrats, and Lagos and Bachelet, Socialists, produced unquestionable changes in a democratizing sense, dismantling the «authoritarian enclaves», giving rise to policies on the past (Rettig Report and Valech Reports), improving relations with the Armed Forces, in short, seeking «democratic normalization». But at the same time, it proved incapable of creating the Welfare State, of dealing with social inequalities, contributing to the deregulation of the economy. The State abandoned any social function. The result was the growing distrust of young people towards their rulers, the increasing awareness of women of their discrimination in society, and the inability to deal with the indigenous issue. Young people, women and indigenous people felt forgotten and waited for their opportunity to use democratic means to bet on the re-foundation of the State, that is to say, to carry out the rupture that had not taken place during the transition.
The mobilizations that occurred between October 2019 and March 2020 expressed the rejection of economic inequalities, low pensions or the malfunctioning of the health system. But also, and very forcefully, the weariness with the political class. The immobility of the political structure of the transition contributed to the collapse of the model.
Young students, women and indigenous people staged a massive protest which, together with the unfortunate initial declarations of President Piñera and his repressive response, managed to break the political regime formalized since the transition, forcing the re-foundation of the State. The President of the Republic, overwhelmed, rectified the situation by offering profound changes, safeguarding the institutional framework. Everything, however, seemed partial, insufficient and limited in the face of a permanent mobilization, backed by the citizenry and with a La Moneda Palace whose legitimacy was at rock bottom. On November 15, a transversal agreement between the Government and Congress, signed by most of the parties with parliamentary representation, decided to call a national plebiscite to define whether a new Constitution would be drafted and what mechanism would be used.
The national plebiscite held on October 25, 2020, had a turnout of just over 50 percent. 78.3 percent wanted a «new Political Constitution» and 79 percent wanted it to be drafted by a «Constitutional Convention», which would not be organized by members of Parliament. The next step, the election of its members, confirmed the political break with respect to 1990.
In May 2021, the election of the 155 members of the Convention was held. The turnout was very low. The parties that had governed since 1990 obtained 37 members from the right and 25 from the center left. Separately they did not reach the necessary third (52) to approve any proposal. The big winners were the left of the socialist party, 28 seats and the independents, 48. The latter («People’s List») are linked to the protest mobilizations launched in 2019. Finally, the «native peoples» are allocated 17 seats.
The failure of the traditional parties (Christian Democrats and Socialists) or right-wing ruling parties (UDI or Renovación Nacional) was evident, highlighting the popular clamor against those who had hitherto exercised the government. The results of the presidential elections have been in the same direction.

Summary:
1. CONSTITUTIONS AND CONSTITUENT PROCESSES IN CHILE. 2. THE MILITARY DICTATORSHIP, THE AUTHORITARIAN CONSTITUTION OF 1980 AND THE PLEBISCITE OF OCTOBER 5, 1988. 3. TRANSITION AND DEMOCRACY IN CHILE. CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS. 4. THE EXHAUSTION OF REFORMIST DEMOCRACY AND THE PATH TOWARDS THE REFOUNDATION OF THE STATE.