CHILE: THE DEVELOPMENT, BREAKDOWN, AND RECOVERY OF DEMOCRACY.

In the nineteenth century, of all Latin American states that had been part of the Spanish Empire, Chile enjoyed a unique reputation for its institutional order and internal peace. The first years of independence were quite turbulent, and Chile did not escape the common experience of the continent-military violence and strife administrative discontinuity-in that period of political turmoil. The Battle of Lircay in 1830 marked the beginning of a new one. It was in the history of the republic. In that year armed struggle of conservatives and liberals, with centralist federalist caudillo and led to a period of Conservative government under the leadership of Diego Portales, the virtual dictator of Chile.
Portales was primarily responsible for the establishment in Chile of a constitutional system, which remained essentially unchanged for more than half a century, and which year’s later Chile had an international reputation as the Republic of South American model. However, the public view of a man or group of men would have done little for her, as geographical and social circumstances helped solve the problems of political organization.
The landowner , who owned large estates ruled the field , while the toiling peasantry , from colonial times to the twentieth century , Chile , could be described as an agrarian society essentially unique , characterized by extreme land monopoly stratification marked social . Only in the late nineteenth century, the emergence of new urban and industrial classes began to blur the line of division between master and servant. It is this rigid distinction that gave character to the nation, the ruling aristocracy national life in all its aspects as the illiterate peasants obeyed. However, social and economic unit of the farm, the large estate, and the social system that created was a force for stability and so did the country's racial structure. The high degree of white and Indian fusion, which continued throughout the colonial period, there was virtually eliminated at the time of Independence to the aboriginal races, leaving a structure of two groups, a dominant minority, predominantly white and had in 1810 with about 150,000 people, and 350,000 mestizos, a fusion of races in which predominant Spanish ancestry and India.
Portales put an end to years of anarchy that followed the wars of independence in the early 1830s. Smashing through militarism and give a policy of severe repression but necessary, reinforced by the exercise of extraordinary powers, Portales order created the conditions within which he could attempt the Constitution of 1833 enacted. This Constitution was the political image of the social structure, adjusted perfectly to cultural and economic status and the real needs of society.
Of the foreign groups established in Chile, the most important, no doubt, was that of the British. Trade ties were not the only friendly linking the two nations naval connections were also an important element. More important, however, were trade relations between the two states. Between 1844 and 1898 the total value of imports from Britain exceeded the combined value of imports from France, Germany and the United States.
With the promulgation of the 1925 Constitution begins a new period in the political and parliamentary history of Chile, marked by the dominance of the executive over the legislature. Faculties are suppressed and censored congressional questioning in relation to the Ministers of State, who become the exclusive confidence of the President of the Republic. Contributions laws and fixing of the Armed Forces lose their periodic character and the budget law loses its character as a political weapon against the Executive Parliament. Access is prohibited deputies and senators to cabinet positions and gives control of an autonomous elections and the Electoral Court. The Congress, which remains dissolved since the military coup in 1924, is reinstated in March 1926.
Overthrown the democratic government in September 1973 , the military junta took power public , closing the National Congress in recess declared political parties and established the state of siege throughout the country. This situation allows serious abuses and perpetrators of human rights abuses. Thousands of citizens are arrested, massive raids occur, no torture, murder and disappearances of people, mainly affecting the members and supporters of the overthrown Popular Unity. This causes a considerable number of Chileans take refuge in foreign embassies or leaving the country, producing a massive fellow exile.
The second stage covers military government from March 11, 1981 until March 11, 1990. This period starts with the entry into force of the 1980 Constitution. This Constitution is the political tool of regime institutionalization. It sets a markedly authoritarian presidential regime, with an 8-year presidency, a Congress of limited powers and a third of appointed senators and a number of institutional mechanisms that ensure future military influence in government, complemented by numerous transitory articles. It also includes the choice of Pinochet in office of President for eight years, after which a referendum would be held to ratify for a second term until 1997. Call to approval by plebiscite conducted on September 11, 1980, it lacks the necessary safeguards to maintain legitimacy, given the ban on opposition media censorship and the lack of electoral registers. The result yields a 67 % approval. Six months later, on March 11, 1981, promulgating the Constitution and General Pinochet assumed his presidency for eight years.