Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T11:11:01.210Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

You Win Some, You Lose Some: Constitutional Reforms in Chile's Transition to Democracy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Claudia Heiss  and
Patricio Navia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Chile's 1989 constitutional reforms constituted a trade-off: the military gave up protected democracy provisions but acquired greater autonomy. The democratic opposition could accept or reject, but not modify, constitutional changes proposed by the outgoing dictatorship. This study addresses a very limited time period in the transition to democracy: the moment after the transition has been secured and transitional rules have been established. The dynamics of this period differ markedly from those in the larger democratic transition. The approach in this study complements alternative explanations of why the 1989 reforms benefited the outgoing dictatorship more than the incoming democratic government. Although the outgoing regime granted several opposition demands by reducing restrictions on political pluralism and eliminating barriers to political party activity, it also secured provisions that made the military more independent of civilian authorities than originally conceived in the 1980 Constitution.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , Volume 49 , Issue 3 , Fall 2007 , pp. 163 - 190
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agüero, Felipe. 1995. Soldiers, Civilians, and Democracy: Post-Franco Spain in Comparative Perspective. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Agüero, Felipe. 1998. Chile's Lingering Authoritarian Legacy. Current History 97, 616 (February): 66–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allamand, Andrés. 1999a. Las paradojas de un legado. In El modelo chileno. Democracia y desarrollo en los noventa, ed. Drake, Paul and Jaksi, Ivan. Santiago: LOM. 169–90.Google Scholar
Allamand, Andrés. 1999b. La travesía del desierto. Santiago: Aguilar.Google Scholar
Andrade Geywitz, Carlos. 1991. Reforma de la Constitución Política de la República de Chile de 1980. Santiago: Editorial Jurídica de Chile.Google Scholar
Arato, Andrew, and Miklósi, Zoltán. 2003. Constitution Making in Hungary. Draft prepared for the May 31 session of the United States Institute of Peace Working Group on Constitution-Making, Peace Building, and National Reconciliation, U.N. General Assembly Headquarters, New York.Google Scholar
Aylwin, Arturo, et al. 1988. Constitución 80. Santiago: Editorial Jurídica Ediar.Google Scholar
Aylwin, Patricio, Briones, Carlos, Bulnes, Francisco, Correa, Pedro, Cumplido, Francisco, Diez, Sergio, Sanhueza, Manuel, Silva, Alejandro, and Silva, Enrique. 1985. Una salida político constitucional para Chile. Santiago: Instituto Chileno de Estudios Humanísticos.Google Scholar
Aylwin, Patricio, Briones, Carlos, Bulnes, Francisco, Correa, Pedro, Cumplido, Francisco, Diez, Sergio, Sanhueza, Manuel, Silva, Alejandro, and Silva, Enrique. 1998. El reencuentro de los demócratas: del golpe al triunfo del no. Santiago: Ediciones B Chile.Google Scholar
Baldez, Lisa, and Carey, John M.. 1999. Presidential Agenda Control and Spending Policy: Lessons from General Pinochet's Constitution. American Journal of Political Science 43, 1 (January): 29–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barros, Robert. 1996. By Reason and Force: Military Constitutionalism in Chile, 1973–1989. Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Barros, Robert. 2001. Personalization and Institutional Constraints: Pinochet, the Military Junta, and the 1980 Constitution. Latin American Politics and Society 43, 1 (Spring): 5–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barros, Robert. 2002. Constitutionalism and Dictatorship: Pinochet, the Junta and the 1980 Constitution. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boeninger, Edgardo. 1997. Democracia en Chile. Lecciones para la gobernabilidad. Santiago: Andrés Bello.Google Scholar
Bulnes Aldunate, Luz. 1981. Constitución política de la República de Chile. Concordancias, anotaciones y fuentes. Santiago: Editorial Jurídica de Chile.Google Scholar
Cavallo, Ascanio. 1992. Los hombres de la transición. Santiago: Andrés Bello.Google Scholar
Cavallo, Ascanio. 1998. Historia oculta de la transición. Santiago: Grijalbo.Google Scholar
Cavallo, Ascanio, Sepúlveda, Oscar, and Salazar, Manuel. 1997. La historia oculta del régimen militar. Santiago: Grijalbo.Google Scholar
Cavarozzi, Marcelo, and Garretón, Manuel Antonio, eds. 1989. Muerte y resurrección. Los partidos políticos en el autoritarismo y las transiciones del cono sur. Santiago: FLACSO.Google Scholar
Centra de Estudios e Investigaciones Militares (CESIM). Area Estrategia Militar y Defensa Nacional. 2000. Ley Reservada del Cobre: fuente y mecanismo de recursos para la defensa de Chile. Santiago: CESIM.Google Scholar
Congreso Nacional. 1992. Modifica diversas disposiciones de la Constitución Política de la República. Boletín 702–07 (06/02/92). Valparaíso: Congreso Nacional.Google Scholar
Congreso Nacional. 1994. Proyecto de Reforma Constitucional Política de la República. Boletín 1328–07 (08/30/94). Valparaíso: Congreso Nacional.Google Scholar
Congreso Nacional. 1995a. Proyecto de Reforma a la Constitución Política de la República, en materia de composición del Senado, de integración del Tribunal Constitutional, y en lo relativo al Consejo de Seguridad Nacional. Boletín 1680–07 (08/22/95). Valparaíso: Congreso Nacional.Google Scholar
Congreso Nacional. 1995b. Proyecto de Reforma Constitucional que introduce diversas enmiendas a la Carta Fundamental. Boletín 1726–07 (11/07/95). Valparaíso: Congreso Nacional.Google Scholar
Congreso Nacional. 1997. Proyecto de Reforma Constitucional sobre la Composición del Senado. Boletín 2000–07 (05/06/97). Valparaíso: Congreso Nacional.Google Scholar
Congreso Nacional. 1999. Suprime los Senadores Institucionales y establece normas para Senadores Vitalicios. Boletín 2321–07 (04/14/99). Valparaíso: Congreso Nacional.Google Scholar
Congreso Nacional. 2000. Modifica diversas instituciones de la Constitución Política de la República. Boletín 2511–07 (06/13/00). Valparaíso: Congreso Nacional.Google Scholar
Constable, Pamela, and Valenzuela, Arturo. 1991. A Nation of Enemies: Chile Under Pinochet. New York: W. W. Norton.Google Scholar
Constitution of the Republic of Chile. 1980. [English version] http:confinder.richmond.eduadmindocsChile.pdf.Google Scholar
Constitución Política de la República de Chile. 1981. Santiago: Editora Cumbres.Google Scholar
Constitución Política de la República de Chile. 1990. Santiago: Ediciones Publiley.Google Scholar
Constitución Política de la República de Chile. 2006. Santiago: Editorial Jurídica de Chile.Google Scholar
Cristi, Renato. 2000. El pensamiento político de Jaime Guzmán. Autoridad y libertad. Santiago: LOM.Google Scholar
Ejército de, Chile. 2004. El fin de una visión. Santiago: Ejército de Chile. http://www.ejercito.clhtm-generado2010.html.Google Scholar
Elster, Jon. 2000. Ulysses Unbound: Studies in Rationality, Precommitment, and Constraints. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ensalaco, Mark. 1994. In with the New, out with the Old? the Democratising Impact of Constitutional Reform in Chile. Journal of Latin American Studies 26, 2 (May): 409–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ensalaco, Mark. 1995. Military Prerogatives and the Stalemate of Chilean Civil-Military Relations. Armed Forces and Society 21, 2: 255–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fitch, J. Samuel. 1998. The Armed Forces and Democracy in Latin America. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Fuentes, Claudio. 1996. El discurso militar en la transición chilena. Santiago: FLACSO.Google Scholar
Fuentes, Claudio. 2000. After Pinochet: Civilian Policies toward the Military in the 1990s Chilean Democracy. Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 42, 3 (Fall): 111–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garretón, Manuel Antonio. 1984. Dictaduras y democratización. Santiago: FLACSO.Google Scholar
Garretón, Manuel Antonio. 1995. Hacia una nueva era política: estudio sobre las democratizaciones. Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica.Google Scholar
Godoy, Oscar. 1996. Pueden las fuerzas armadas ser garantes de la democracia Estudios Públicos 61 (Summer): 269–307.Google Scholar
Godoy, Oscar. 1999. La transición a la democracia: pactada. Estudios Públicos 74 (Fall): 79–106.Google Scholar
Haggard, Stephan H., and Kaufman, Robert R.. 1997. The Political Economy of Democratic Transitions. Comparative Politics 29, 3 (April): 263–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hansen, Mogens H. 1991. The Athenian Democracy in the Age of Demosthenes. New York: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Huneeus, Carlos. 2001. El régimen de Pinochet. Santiago: Sudamericana.Google Scholar
Informe de la Comisión Nacional sohre Prisión Política y Tortura. 2005. Santiago: Gobierno de Chile. http://www.presidencia.clviewviewInformeTortura.htm.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jocelyn-Holt, Alfredo. 1998. El Chile perplejo. Santiago: Planeta/Ariel.Google Scholar
Karl, Terry Lynn. 1987. Petroleum and Political Pacts: the Transition to Democracy in Venezuela. Latin American Research Review 22, 1: 63–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linz, Juan J., and Stepan, Alfred. 1996. Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lorca, Juan Pablo. 2000. Economía de defensa y guerra. Revista de Marina. http://www.revistamarina.clrevistas20001lorca.pdf. Accessed March 11, 2006.Google Scholar
Loveman, Brian. 1991. Misión cumplida? Civil-Military Relations and the Chilean Political Transition. Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 33, 3 (Fall): 35–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loveman, Brian. 1994. Protected Democracies and Military Guardianship: Political Transitions in Latin America, 1978–1993. Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 36, 2 (Summer): 105–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ministerio de la Defensa Nacional. 1997. Libro de la defensa nacional de Chile. Santiago: Ministerio de la Defensa Nacional.Google Scholar
Moulián, Tomás. 1997. El Chile actual. Anatomía de un mito. Santiago: LOM-Arcis.Google Scholar
O'Donnell, Guillermo, and Schmitter, Philippe C.. 1986. Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Tentative Conclusions About Uncertain Democracies. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
O'Donnell, Guillermo, Schmitter, Philippe C., and Whitehead, Lawrence. 1986. Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Prospects for Democracy. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Otano, Rafael. 1995. Crónica de la transición. Santiago: Planeta.Google Scholar
Pereira, Anthony, and Zaverucha, Jorge. 2003. Political Justice under Authoritarian Regimes in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. Paper presented at the 24th International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, Dallas, March 27.Google Scholar
Pinochet, Augusto. 1977. Discurso de Chacarillas. Santiago: Fundación Jaime Guzmán, Centro de Documentación. http://www.fjguzman.clinterioresc_docuinteriorth13.htm. Accessed December 11, 2003.Google Scholar
Portales, Felipe. 2000. Chile. Una democracia tutelada. Santiago: Sudamericana.Google Scholar
Przeworski, Adam. 1991. Democracy and the Market. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rabkin, Rhoda. 1992. The Aylwin Government and “Tutelary” Democracy: a Concept in Search of a Case Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 34, 4 (Winter): 119–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rehren, Alfredo. 1997. La redemocratización de la política chilena. Hacia una democracia capitalista? Paper presented at the 20th International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, Guadalajara, April 17–19.Google Scholar
Rojo, Emilio. 1995. La otra cara de La Moneda. Los cuatro años de Aylwin. Santiago: Ediciones Chile-América, CESOC.Google Scholar
Sigmund, Paul E. 1993. The United States and Democracy in Chile. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Silva, Bascuñán, Alejandro, . 1992. Informe en derecho: los nombramientos, ascensos y retiros en las FFAA Bitácora Legislativa. Programa de Asesoría Legislativa (PAL). April. Santiago: Corporación Tiempo 2000.Google Scholar
Smith, William C. 1987. The Political Transition in Brazil: From Authoritarian Liberalization and Elite Consolidation to Democratization. In Comparing New Democracies, ed. Enrique, Baloyra. Boulder: Westview Press. 179–240.Google Scholar
Soto Kloss, Eduardo, and Olivares, Gustavo Fiama. 1976. Actas constitucionales. Santiago: Editorial Jurídica de Chile.Google Scholar
Stepan, Alfred. 1989. Democratizing Brazil: Problems of Transition and Consolidation. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tribunal Constitucional. 1990a. Rol N 98: Proyecto de ley orgánica constitucional de las fuerzas armadas. http://www.tribunalconstitucional.clrolesrol_n98.html. Accessed March 30, 2006.Google Scholar
Tribunal Constitucional. 1990a. Rol N 103: Proyecto de ley orgánica constitucional de Chile. http://www.tribunalconstitucional.clrolesrol_n103.html. Accessed March 30, 2006.Google Scholar
Uggla, Fredrik. 2005. “For a Few Senators More”? Negotiating Constitutional Changes during Chile's Transition to Democracy. Latin American Politics and Society 47, 2 (Summer): 51–75.Google Scholar
Valenzuela, Arturo. 1995. The Military in Power: The Consolidation of One-Man Rule. In The Struggle for Democracy in Chile, 1982–1990, revised edition, ed. Drake, Paul and Jaksi, Ivan. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 21–72.Google Scholar
Villagrín, Fernando. 2002. Disparen a la bandada: una crónica secreta de la FACH. Santiago: Planeta.Google Scholar
Weeks, Gregory. 2003. The Military and Politics in Post-Authoritarian Chile. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.Google Scholar
Zaldívar, Andrés. 1995. La transición inconclusa. Santiago: Editorial Los Andes.Google Scholar