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Personalization and Institutional Constraints: Pinochet, the Military Junta, and the 1980 Constitution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Robert Barros
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Abstract

The standard account of military dictatorship in Chile (1973–1990) portrays the case as a personalist regime, and uses the dynamics associated with this type of regime to explain General Pinochet's control of the presidency, the enactment of the 1980 Constitution, and the longevity of military rule. Drawing on records of the decisionmaking process within the military junta, this article presents evidence for a different characterization of the dictatorship. It shows that Pinochet never attained the supremacy commonly attributed to him, that the commanders of the other branches of the armed forces retained significant powers, and that the 1980 Constitution was not enacted to project Pinochet's personal power. More generally, this study suggests that personal power is not a necessary condition for regime longevity; collective systems can also produce cohesion and stability.

Type
Research
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , Volume 43 , Issue 1 , Spring 2001 , pp. 5 - 28
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 2001

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