The Struggle for Democracy in Chile
The Struggle for Democracy in Chile

Author: Paul W. Drake

Publisher: U of Nebraska Press

Published: 1995-01-01

Total Pages: 392

ISBN-13: 9780803266001

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This revised edition of The Struggle for Democracy in Chile should prove even more useful to the student of Latin American history and politics than the original. It updates important background information on the evolution of Chile?s military dictatorship in the 1970s and its erosion in the 1980s. Brian Loveman, an authority on contemporary Chilean politics, offers a comprehensive examination of the transition to civilian government in Chile from 1990 to 1994 in a substantial new chapter. Loveman chronicles the rise of the Concertaci¢n coalition, the strained relations between General Pinochet?s military and President Alwyn?s civilian government, and the roles of the National Women?s Service (SERNAM), the Catholic Church, and the indigenous peoples of Chile. All eleven essays by the leading authorities on the Pinochet regime from the earlier edition have been retained. The bibliography has been updated and the index improved. ø The Struggle for Democracy in Chile remains the first and foremost book on the transition over the last twenty-five years from dictatorship to democracy in Chile.

Democratic Transitions
Democratic Transitions

Author: Sergio Bitar

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2015-09-15

Total Pages: 487

ISBN-13: 142141760X

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Thirteen former presidents and prime ministers discuss how they helped their countries end authoritarian rule and achieve democracy. National leaders who played key roles in transitions to democratic governance reveal how these were accomplished in Brazil, Chile, Ghana, Indonesia, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, South Africa, and Spain. Commissioned by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), these interviews shed fascinating light on how repressive regimes were ended and democracy took hold. In probing conversations with Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Patricio Aylwin, Ricardo Lagos, John Kufuor, Jerry Rawlings, B. J. Habibie, Ernesto Zedillo, Fidel V. Ramos, Aleksander Kwasniewski, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, F. W. de Klerk, Thabo Mbeki, and Felipe González, editors Sergio Bitar and Abraham F. Lowenthal focused on each leader’s principal challenges and goals as well as their strategies to end authoritarian rule and construct democratic governance. Context-setting introductions by country experts highlight each nation’s unique experience as well as recurrent challenges all transitions faced. A chapter by Georgina Waylen analyzes the role of women leaders, often underestimated. A foreword by Tunisia’s former president, Mohamed Moncef Marzouki, underlines the book’s relevance in North Africa, West Asia, and beyond. The editors’ conclusion distills lessons about how democratic transitions have been and can be carried out in a changing world, emphasizing the importance of political leadership. This unique book should be valuable for political leaders, civil society activists, journalists, scholars, and all who want to support democratic transitions.

The President and Congress in Postauthoritarian Chile
The President and Congress in Postauthoritarian Chile

Author: Peter Siavelis

Publisher: Penn State University Press

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13:

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As many formerly authoritarian regimes have been replaced by democratic governments in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and elsewhere, questions have arisen about the stability and durability of these new governments. One concern has to do with the institutional arrangements for governing bequeathed to the new democratic regimes by their authoritarian predecessors and with the related issue of whether presidential or parliamentary systems work better for the consolidation of democracy. In this book, Peter Siavelis takes a close look at the important case of Chile, which had a long tradition of successful legislative resolution of conflict but was left by the Pinochet regime with a changed institutional framework that greatly strengthened the presidency at the expense of the legislature. Weakening of the legislature combined with an exclusionary electoral system, Siavelis argues, undermines the ability of Chile's National Congress to play its former role as an arena of accommodation, creating serious obstacles to interbranch cooperation and, ultimately, democratic governability. Unlike other studies that contrast presidential and parliamentary systems in the large, Siavelis examines a variety of factors, including socioeconomic conditions and characteristics of political parties, that affect whether or not one of these systems will operate more or less successfully at any given time. He also offers proposals for institutional reform that could mitigate the harm he expects the current political structure to produce.

Authoritarianism and the Elite Origins of Democracy
Authoritarianism and the Elite Origins of Democracy

Author: Michael Albertus

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2018-01-25

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13: 110819642X

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This book argues that - in terms of institutional design, the allocation of power and privilege, and the lived experiences of citizens - democracy often does not restart the political game after displacing authoritarianism. Democratic institutions are frequently designed by the outgoing authoritarian regime to shield incumbent elites from the rule of law and give them an unfair advantage over politics and the economy after democratization. Authoritarianism and the Elite Origins of Democracy systematically documents and analyzes the constitutional tools that outgoing authoritarian elites use to accomplish these ends, such as electoral system design, legislative appointments, federalism, legal immunities, constitutional tribunal design, and supermajority thresholds for change. The study provides wide-ranging evidence for these claims using data that spans the globe and dates from 1800 to the present. Albertus and Menaldo also conduct detailed case studies of Chile and Sweden. In doing so, they explain why some democracies successfully overhaul their elite-biased constitutions for more egalitarian social contracts.

Thinking Politics
Thinking Politics

Author: Jeffrey Puryear

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 230

ISBN-13: 9780801848414

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Because of Latin America's long history of military juntas, analysts who have studied regime change in the region have focused on political and military elites. In the recent case of Chile, however, the success of democratic transition can be credited in large part to the remarkable influence of intellectuals involved in public affairs. In Thinking Politics Jeffrey Puryear examines this unprecedented role played by intellectuals inChile's return to democracy. "Thinking Politics provides thorough coverage of an important but neglected topic by a uniquely qualified observer. Through his work with the Ford Foundation, Jeffrey Puryear had an unparalleled opportunity for an outside agent to witness the development of the social scientists of Chile and their impact on democratization. He tells the story well, he analyzes it in a way that could be relevant to other cases, and he presents the policy implications for support of the social sciences in less developed countries in a convincing manner." -- Paul W. Drake, University of California, San Diego "This first-rate work is accurate, original, and compelling. It addresses an important topic -- the relationship between ideas and politics -- that has seldom been analyzed in Latin America." -- JosA(c) JoaquA-n Brunner Ried, Facultad Latina Americana de Ciencias Sociales, Santiago, Chile.

Television, Democracy, and the Mediatization of Chilean Politics
Television, Democracy, and the Mediatization of Chilean Politics

Author: Harry L. Simón Salazar

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2017-12-26

Total Pages: 191

ISBN-13: 1498559557

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After seventeen years as dictator of Chile, in 1990 Augusto Pinochet ceremoniously handed the presidential sash to the leader of his legal opposition to formalize the peaceful transition to civilian rule in that country. Among the many idiosyncrasies of this extraordinary transfer of political power, the most memorable is the month-long, nationally televised campaign of uncensored political advertising known as the Franja de Propaganda Electoral—the “Official Space for Electoral Propaganda.” Produced by Pinochet’s supporters and the legal opposition, the 1988 Franja campaign set out to encourage voters to participate in a plebiscite that would define the democratic future of Chile. Harry L. Simón Salazar presents a valuable historical account, new empirical research, and a unique theoretical analysis of the televised Franja campaign to examine how it helped the Chilean people reconcile the irreconcilable and stabilize a contradictory relationship between what was politically implausible and what was represented as true and viable in a space of mediated political culture. This contribution to the field of political communication research will be useful for scholars, students, and a general public interested in Latin American history and democracy, as well as researchers of media, communication theory, and cultural studies. Television, Democracy, and the Mediatization of Chilean Politics also helps inform a more critical understanding of contemporary hyper-mediated political movements such as the Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, and the particularly germane phenomenon of Trumpism.

The Social Outburst and Political Representation in Chile
The Social Outburst and Political Representation in Chile

Author: Bernardo Navarrete

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-07-16

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13: 3030703207

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This is the first book in English to present a comprehensive analysis of the October 2019 social outbreak in Chile and its consequences for the country’s political system. For almost 30 years (1990-2019), Chile was recognized as a model of political and economic stability in Latin America, but the 2019 protests put into question the whole structure of representation based on programmatic political parties. This contributed volume analyzes the causes of the social outbreak by examining the interaction between political parties and social movements in Chile since 2000, establishing bridges between the sociology of social movements and the political science of parties and forms of traditional political representation. The book is organized in three parts. The first part analyzes the collapse of the political party system in Chile. The second part shows how social movements introduced innovative forms of political mobilization that challenged the traditional forms of political representation. Finally, the third part presents case studies focusing on specific social movements and their contributions to the renewal of political representation in Chile. The Social Outburst and Political Representation in Chile will be a valuable resource for sociologists, political scientists and other social scientists interested in understanding the challenges posed to political parties and institutions by social movements formed by citizens who no longer see themselves represented by the traditional forms political participation.

Transitions to Democracy
Transitions to Democracy

Author: Kathryn Stoner

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2013-04-15

Total Pages: 456

ISBN-13: 1421408775

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Fifteen case studies by scholars and practitioners demonstrate the synergy between domestic and international influences that can precipitate democratic transitions. As demonstrated by current events in Tunisia and Egypt, oppressive regimes are rarely immune to their citizens’ desire for democratic government. Of course, desire is always tempered by reality; therefore how democratic demands are made manifest is a critical source of study for both political scientists and foreign policy makers. What issues and consequences surround the fall of a government, what type of regime replaces it, and to what extent are these efforts successful? Kathryn Stoner and Michael McFaul have created an accessible book of fifteen case studies from around the world that will help students understand these complex issues. Their model builds upon Guillermo O’Donnell, Philippe C. Schmitter, and Laurence Whitehead's classic work, Transitions from Authoritarian Rule, using a rubric of four identifying factors that can be applied to each case study, making comparison relatively easy. Transitions to Democracy yields strong comparisons and insights. For instance, the study reveals that efforts led by the elite and involving the military are generally unsuccessful, whereas mass mobilization, civic groups, and new media have become significant factors in supporting and sustaining democratic actors. This collection of writings by scholars and practitioners is organized into three parts: successful transitions, incremental transitions, and failed transitions. Extensive primary research and a rubric that can be applied to burgeoning democracies offer readers valuable tools and information.

Chile in Transition
Chile in Transition

Author: Michael J. Lazzara

Publisher:

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 199

ISBN-13: 9780813030081

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"A lucid and well-thought-out study of artistic expressions that evoke experiences from the years of the military dictatorship in Chile. . . . The perceptive analyses, intelligent insights, and breadth of information . . . make this [book] compelling reading."--Maria Ines Lagos, University of Virginia Lazzara examines the political, ethical, and aesthetic implications of the diverse narrative forms Chilean artists have used to represent the memory of political violence under the Pinochet regime. By studying multiple "lenses of memory" through which truths about the past have been constructed, he seeks to expose the complex intersections among trauma, subjectivity, and literary genres, and to question the nature of trauma's "artistic" rendering. Drawing on current theorizations about memory, human rights, and trauma, Lazzara analyzes a broad body of written, visual, and oral texts produced during Chile's democratic transition as representations of a set of poetics searching to connect politics and memory, achieve personal reconciliation, or depict the "unspeakable" personal and collective consequences of torture and disappearance. In so doing, he sets the "politics of consensus and reconciliation" against alternative narratives that offer an ethical counterpoint to "forgetting and looking toward the future" and argues that perhaps only those works that resist hasty narrative resolution to the past can stand up to the ethical and epistemological challenges facing postdictatorial societies still struggling to come to terms with their history. Grounded in Lazzara's firsthand knowledge of the post-Pinochet period and its cultural production, Chile in Transition offers groundbreaking connections and perspectives that set this period in the context of other postauthoritarian societies dealing with contested memories and conflicting memorializing practices, most notably with Holocaust studies.