The Chilean presidential elections of 1999–2000 and democratic consolidation

Angell, Alan; Pollack, Benny

doi:10.1016/s0261-3050(00)00030-9

Cited by 7 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Although there was reason for concern and higher vigilance, the policy preferences of renovated socialists in the ConcertacioÂ n hardly justified the immediate and vehement attack on the government on a number of policy issues. As Angell and Pollack (2000) showed, the Lagos administration came down on record in favour of maintaining the free market system and negotiating reforms within the institutional confines of the 1980 Constitution. Given the Chilean private sector's vaunted pragmatism, and past practice, one would have expected it to see how things developed before launching such an onslaught.…”

Section: The Ascent Of Renovated Socialismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Lagos administration was weaker than previous ConcertacioÂ n governments. First, as Angell and Pollack (2000) point out, Chile's sustained high economic growth rates averaging 6 percent per year and low unemployment of about 4 percent seemed over. Since the Asian financial crisis began to affect Chile in 1998 and the subsequent slowdown of the US economy in 2001, Chile has suffered from recession and sluggish growth (predicted at 3.4 percent for 2002) and persistent high unemployment at about 10 percent.…”

Section: The Pinochet Case and Constitutional Reform: Private Sector mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…3 These adverse economic conditions affected the Lagos administration's priorities (focus on growth, not equity) and diminished the popularity of the government. Second, the 1999 presidential contest ushered in a politically weaker administration (P. Silva, 2001;Angell and Pollack, 2000;Barrett, 2000). It had less electoral support, having been the first to go to a second round in which the ConcertacioÂ n narrowly edged out the conservative opposition, the Alianza por Chile.…”

Section: The Pinochet Case and Constitutional Reform: Private Sector mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is tempting to argue that an ideological reaction to a power shift within the ConcertacioÂ n fully explains the change. As GarretoÂ n (1991) and others have shown, the Christian Democratic party controlled the centre-left coalition during the transition to democracy and the first two administrations of the ConcertacioÂ n. Angell and Pollack (2000) and Barrett (2000) have documented how towards the end of the 1990s the centre of gravity shifted to the Party for Democracy and Socialist Party ± the left pole of the ConcertacioÂ n ± culminating in Lagos' election to the presidency in January 2000. Moreover, Lagos had been a minister in Salvador Allende's government in the early 1970s.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is certainly part of the answer. But, as Angell and Pollack (2000) have shown, the Lagos administration was only following up on moderate initiatives that past ConcertacioÂ n governments had left incomplete, not radicalising them. Thus, the immediate and vehement attack of business on the Lagos administration is not consistent with the more tolerant and accommodating attitude of capital, as represented by its umbrella employers' association (the ConfederacioÂ n de la ProduccioÂ n y Comerico, CPC) towards the same issues in the past.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Capital and the Lagos Presidency: Business as Usual?

Silva

2002

Bull Latin American Res

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Business-state relations in Chile's new democracy had been relatively tension-free for the first two governments of the centre-left ConcertacioÂ n de Partidos por la Democracia. However, during the first two years of the third ConcertacioÂ n administration, under the presidency of Ricardo Lagos, the relationship soured dramatically. At first glance, an ideological shift in the ruling coalition's centre of gravity would seem to explain the change in business-state relations. During the first two governments more conservative factions of the centrist Christian Democratic party had controlled the ConcertacioÂ n. Lagos, on the other hand, represented the left pole of the coalition and his socialist credentials brought the long shadow of the past on his presidency. This, however is an insufficient cause, three additional conditions must also be taken into account. The first one considers changes in the institutional and economic context that eroded the private sector's confidence in the ConcertacioÂ n's commitment to maintain the free-market socioeconomic model imposed under military rule. The second and third conditions are a decline in the electoral fortunes of the ConcertacioÂ n in favour of conservative parties and a shift in power relations among employers' associations towards more confrontational factions.

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Section: The Ascent Of Renovated Socialismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Pinochet Case and Constitutional Reform: Private Sector mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Pinochet Case and Constitutional Reform: Private Sector mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Capital and the Lagos Presidency: Business as Usual?

Silva

2002

Bull Latin American Res

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The End of Transition? Chile 1990–2000

Barton

Murray

2002

Bull Latin American Res

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State Continuismo and Pinochetismo: The Keys to the Chilean Transition

Barton

2002

Bull Latin American Res

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There have been two parallel processes in Chilean political economy during the 1990s. A high profile has been accorded to the transition from authoritarianism to democracy and its related debates. A relatively low profile has been accorded to the continuity in the state model of capitalism that was implemented under authoritarianism. This paper argues that transition can be best understood in terms of the role of Augusto Pinochet and his strategies for maintaining power ± Pinochetismo. As such, his forced retirement from political life marks the end of transition. The second point is perhaps of more importance however. The democratic political regime has intensified the model of capitalist accumulation of the 1970s and 1980s and socio-economic polarisation has been perpetuated. While the focus on the nature of transition during the 1990s was necessary, there has been a failure to question the social relations established by capitalism. With the end of transition in July 2001, the greatest challenge for Chilean democracy now lies in creating a state based on social relations that serves the needs of the majority rather than the desires of the few.

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The Chilean presidential elections of 1999–2000 and democratic consolidation

Cited by 7 publications

References 4 publications

Capital and the Lagos Presidency: Business as Usual?

Capital and the Lagos Presidency: Business as Usual?

The End of Transition? Chile 1990–2000

State Continuismo and Pinochetismo: The Keys to the Chilean Transition

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