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Political Power and Ideologies in Chile

Political Power and Ideologies in Chile

There are seventeen political parties in Chile, eighteen if you count both ecology parties separately. Since most readers of this blog tend to be libertarians, constitutionalists, or at least lean toward libertarianism, I will highlight the situation of libertarianism in Chile, as well as give details of the other political movements (which are also of keen interest to many libertarians). The Presidential Palace (with Chilean flags) in Santiago, named La Moneda since it first served as the mint under Spanish rule several hundred years ago, is pictured below, along with the Congress building in Valparaíso built under Pinochet (see Moneda source and Congreso source).

Libertarians are lodged within the three right wing parties in Chile: Renovación Nacional (National Renewal Party), where they are known as adherents of liberalismo clásico (classical liberalism), and in the Unión Deomocrática Independiente (Independent Democratic Union), where they are known as neoliberales (libertarians), and the smaller Partido Liberal (Liberal Party). These parties names are abbreviated as (and referred to as) RN, UDI and PL in everyday language in Chile. The larger of these parties (UDI and RN) also house what would be considered in the United States, Canada and Britain to be constitutionalists, conservatives, center-right Republicans, economic protectionists and Roman Catholic traditionalists. In Chile, members of the Right are known as liberales (liberals, in the classical sense), supporting true free trade, immigration, low taxes, minimal regulation, rule of law and the night-watchman state to ensure economic freedom. However, most of them would add a footnote that they are also conservadores sociales (social conservatives). The great majority from UDI and RN, for instance, support drug criminalization, and an even larger number of them are pro-life (which is also true among centrists and many leftists). The dissenters on the right are found in the PL, which in some sense mirrors the left-leaning libertarians in the United States. The PL had its roots in the center-left wing party called Partido por la Democracia (similar to the Democratic Party in the United States), which had some members split off in 2007 who had become more libertarian economically. The coalition between UDI and RN is called the Alianza por Chile (Alliance for Chile), or simply La Alianza, and when the PL is added the Coalición por el Cambio (Coalition for Change) is formed. As with the Left, a number of independents (usually candidates with less clearly defined principles) support the right-wing coalition. The PL also is in alliance with the Partido Progresista, a tiny party from the Left, called Si tú quieres, Chile cambia.

In these three parties libertarians are well-respected and listened to, seemingly more than they are in the United States or Europe, although their actual numbers are probably small (maybe about the same percentage-wise are Ron Paul Republicans are in the Republican Party in the United States). What seems to be more dominant is their influence in economic policy, where large numbers of the Right adhere to the free market liberalism of Milton Friedman, and many also appreciate Friedrich von Hayek. Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard are somewhat less known, and there are only a small handful of Chilean academics that would classify themselves as Austrian economists. Public choice economics is a little bit better known, but marxist and keynesian ideologies are are far more prevalent in universities and the central bank than either of these two schools. Nevertheless, free market liberalism has been the dominant economic policy for several decades in Chile, thanks largely to Milton Friedman and his colleague Arnold Harberger.

Judging by party affiliations in the Chilean Congress, the Right makes up close to one-half of Chileans, and my experience suggests that a considerable chunk of them are economic libertarians. There are relatively minor differences between UDI and RN. UDI appeals to the upper classes (ABC1) and to the lower middle class, and has a much greater nexus with Pinochet and his reformers, whereas RN appeals mainly to the upper classes and distances itself from the Pinochet dictatorship. Accordingly, RN tends to house more of the center-right. UDI also seems to house far more Roman Catholic traditionalists. Given this mixture of things, it comes as no surprise that neither party is more conducive to libertarianism than the other is and, in fact, libertarians are found in both parties.

Classical liberalism and libertarians are effectively absent from Chile’s vast array of left-wing political parties, which change or reform frequently. Those parties are made up of adherents from various ideologies: Roman Catholic social justice derived from the papal encyclicals, liberation theology, radical feminism, Marxism, Leninism, socialism, welfare state interventionism and radical ecologists. A good number of them would be progressive and modern liberals, very similar to Democrats in the United States or Labour Party members in Britain. In fact, judging from the presidential candidates from the Left over the last 25 years, the lion’s share of Chilean leftists are center-left moderates. Nevertheless, the hard core Marxist minority, although relatively small, is still widely listened to and is influential in mounting large protests and marches at times, demanding such things as free higher education, free health care and subsidies through higher taxes on wealthier people. Nevertheless, in the end, the actions of these parties have ended up bringing more justicia social and igualdad (social justice, fairness and equality) to party leaders than to poorer people.

There are thirteen political parties on the Left, and seven of them unite into a coalition called the Nueva Mayoría (New Majority). It used to be called the Concertación de Partidos para la Democracia (Mutual Pact of the Democratic Parties), or simply La Concertación. The ones that are not part of the alliance are more ideologically radical parties: Partida Humanista and Izquiera Unida are in a coalition called Todos a La Moneda (Everyone to the Presidential Palace), and the relatively tiny Partido Ecologista and Partido Igualdad are in a coalition called Nueva Constitución para Chile (New Constitution for Chile). The table below summarizes these parties and their ideological tendencies (with furthest left being towards the bottom of the table), along with the three parties from the Right included at the top.

English Translation
Acronym
Ideological Orientation
————– Number (%) of Elected Politicians ————–
Past Presidents
Senators
Represen-tatives (diputados)
Mayors
Municipal members (concejales)
Independent Democratic Union
UDI
Right, libertarian
Evelyn Matthei 2014 candidate
8 (21.1%)
 39 (32.5%)
47 (13.6%)
352 (15.8%)
National Renewal
RN
Right, center-right, libertarian
Sebastián Piñera 2010-2014
8 (21.1%) 
18  (15.0%)
41 (11.9%) 
321 (14.4%)
Partido Liberal (11,514)
Liberal  
 PL
Progressivism, classical liberalism, center
none
 0
 0
 0
 0
Christian Democrat
PDC 
Roman Catholic social welfarism, center
Eduardo Frei M. 1964-1970, Patricio Aylwin A (1990-1994), Eduardo Frei R. 1994-2000
9 (23.7%)
19 (15,8%)
55 (15.9%)
388 (17.4%)
Party of Democracy 
 PPD
Center, interventionist, democrats
Ricardo Lagos E. (2000-2006)
4 (10.5%)
18 (15.0%)
37 (10.7%)
269 (12.1%)
Radical Social Democrat
 PRSD
center, center left
none
1 (2.6%)
5 (4.2%)
13 (3.8%)
90 (4.1%)
Progresista (formed in 2011, approx. 1,400)
Progressive 
 PRO
center left
none
0
0
7 (2.0%)
50 (2.2%)
Socialista (109,561)
Socialist 
PS 
Marxism, left, center left, Christian left
Salvador Allende G. (1970-1973), Michelle Bachelet (2006-2010)
5 (13.2%)
11 (9.2%)
30 (8.7%)
269 (12.1%)
Humanista (83,328)
Humanist 
PH 
Socialism, ecology, pacifism
none
0
0
2 (0.6%)
20 (0.9%)
Green Ecologist 
PE 
Ecology, leftist
none
0
0
1 (0.3%)
1 (0.05%)
Wide Social Movement
MAS 
Socialism, neo-marxism, left
none
1 (5.6%) 
0
1 (0.3%)
2 (0.09%)
Comunista (46,792)
Communist 
PCCh 
Marxism, CUT, leninism, left
none
0
3 (2.5%)
6 (1.7%)
105 (4.7%)
Igualdad (perhaps 2,000, formed in 2009)
Equality 
PI 
Socialism, anti-capitalism, Indian rights, leftist
none
0
0
0
1 (0.05%)
Izquierda Unida (perhaps 100, formed in 2013)
United Left
IU 
Socialism, anti-capitalism, leftist, Latin- Americanism, feminism, ecology
none
0
0
0
0
Izquierda Cristiana (2,078)………..…….…..
Christian Left 
IC
Liberation theology, left, socialism
none
0
0
0
1 (0.05%)
Fuerza del Norte (2,053, formed in 2012) Primarily in Arica y Iquique…………………………..
Northern Force 
…..FN…. 
Leftist, regionalist………..
none………
..0…….
0.
1 (0.3%)
(0.3%)

There is a Ecologista Verde del Norte party, too, but it is not listed separately from the Ecologista Verde party. There is also a party called the Partido Regionalista de los Independientes (Independent Regional Party, 40,852 members) that is outside of any coalition and does not have a clear ideology, as is also the case with Fuerza del Norte (Northern Force). It is interesting to see just how fragmented the Left is in Chile. Roman Catholics, mainly nominal (about 64% of the population), are found in both ends of the political spectrum but especially populate the Left. Evangelicals, mainly Pentecostals (about 18% of the population), tend to support the Right, although there is a large contingent of them who support the center-left–notably seen in the pentecostal bishops support of socialist presidential candidate Michelle Bachelet in August 2013.

Note that the last eight parties listed in the table constitute the “hard left,” but despite having a total of more than 162,575 party members between them (just under 1% of Chile’s population) they have elected no presidents, and at present only can boast one senator (2.8%), three representatives (2.7%), eleven mayors (4.6%) and one hundred thirty-six municipal members (7.3%). It seems that the hard Right has done much better in relative terms, since both RN and UDI have held to a fairly hard line in terms of economic freedom and they hold many political offices. The Socialist Party is much larger and much more successful than the hard Left. It borders on the left/hard left divide rather than being truly Marxian leftist in practice. Still, that party remains the most serious threat to freedom in Chile. Of their two presidents, Allende was the worst in Chilean history, in effect installing communism, but Bachelet was more moderate, a feminist but center-left ideologically, probably indicative that the PS will not run a repeat of implementing communism again anytime soon. Bachelet did not make any sweeping changes to Chilean economic policy during her last term 2006-2010, and should she be elected in 2014 it is unlikely that she will do any differently in her second term–despite her campaigning claims to want a new constitution and to provide free university education. Overall, the strong presence and position of the Chilean Right, coupled with the fact that the largest clump of political party power tends to be center-left, has kept the economic reforms wrought by the Chicago Boys (under Pinochet) intact. Although the large number of members of political parties on the left gives insight as to why there are so many public rallies and protests in Chile. (See the table below summarizing the tendencies.) For that reason, Chile continues to maintain its freer market economic tendencies and probably will for many years to come.

Tendency
Past Presidents
Senators
Represen-tatives (diputados)
Mayors
Municipal members (concejales)
Party Members
Right and Libertarian (UDI, RN, PL)
1
16
57
88
673
179,296
     percent of total
14.3%
42.1%
47.5%
20.2%
30.3%
23.7%
Center-left (PDC, PPD, PRSD, PRO)
4
14
42
112
797
304,991
     percent of total
57.1%
36.8%
35.0%
25.7%
35.8%
40.3%
Left (PS)
2
5
11
30
269
109,561
     percent of total
28.6%
13.2%
9.2%
6.9%
12.1%
14.5%
Hard Left (PH, PE, MAS, PCCh, PI, IU, IC, FN)
0
1
3
11
136
162,575
     percent of total
0.0%
2.6%
2.5%
2.5%
6.1%
21.5%
Independents or Not Affiliated
0
2
7
194
349
     percent of total
0.0%
5.3%
5.8%
44.6%
15.7%
Total
7
38
120
435
2,224
756,423

The Right has higher concentrations of adherents, including libertarians, in most of northern, central and eastern Santiago (especially the northeast and south central sectors), a large chunk of the Valparaíso/Viña del Mar area, the 5th through 8th regions (especially the Central Valley), Los Andes through Los Ángeles, and a significant part of the 9th and 10th regions (Temuco, Puerto Montt, Osorno), which it shares with Christian Democrats (centrists). The Left has its strongholds in the rest of Santiago, nearly all mining areas in northern Chile (especially Calama, Tocopilla, Antofagasta, Salvador, Copiapó, La Serena and Coquimbo), and much of the Concepción metro area (including the coal mining towns to the south, such as Coronel and Lebu). The extreme south and extreme north of Chile tend to be a bit more mixed politically. Of course, no region or area is exclusively Right or Left. Each group has their representation, too, in “enemy territory.”

Politics is never an easy issue, especially for libertarians, but in spite of political haggling and vast political philosophy differences between Chileans, Chile has maintained its free market orientation. Chile is a great country with a great future and that fact makes our sustainable community Freedom Orchard even more attractive. Check it out at www.FreedomOrchard.com.

 

Be sure to tune in, too, to Dr. Cobin’s radio program: “Red Hot Chile” at noon (ET) on Fridays on the Overseas Radio Network (ORN). You can login at www.overseasradio.com. You can also join the thousands of other people who download the shows each month via the link provided on the ORN website.

     Dr. Cobin’s book, Life in Chile: A Former American’s Guide for Newcomers, is the most comprehensive treatise on Chilean life ever written, designed to help newcomers get settled in Chile. He covers almost ever topic imaginable for immigrants. This knowledge is applied in his valet consulting service (see http://www.chile-consulting.cl), where he guides expatriates through the process of finding a place to live and settle in Chile, helping them glide over the speed bumps that they would otherwise face in getting their visas, setting up businesses, buying real estate, investing in Chilean stocks or gold coins, etc. The cost is $49. If you have problems getting the book through the Overseasradio.com site, since the ORN Store is sometimes closed for maintenance, please use the PayPal info noted below.
     Dr. Cobin’s sequel book, Expatriates to Chile: Topics for Living, adds even further depth on important topics to expatriates who either live in Chile already or who have Chile on the short list of countries where they hope to immigrate. The book deals with crucial issues pertaining to urban and rural real estate transactions, natural disasters, issues pertaining to emigration and its urgency, money and the quality of life, medical care and insurance, business opportunities, social manifestations (including welfare state and divorce policy concerns), Chile in the freedom indices, social maladies (lying, cheating, stealing and murder), as well as discussion of a few places worth visiting and some further comments about Santiago. Note: If the link to buy the book at the Overseasradio.com site does not appear, since the ORN Store is sometimes closed for maintenance, just send US$39 by PayPal to jcobin@policyofliberty.net and send an email or PayPal notice that you have completed your order. A download link will be sent to you directly. 
    The Overseasradio.com website also has Dr. Cobin’s abridged book (56 pages): Chile: A Primer for Expats ($19), or the little book can also be obtained directly by following the aforementioned PayPal steps.

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