The State and Capital in Chile

Chile emerged from military rule in the 1990s as a leader of free market economic reform. Explanations for this change focus on the conditions of strong authoritarianism and insulation of policymakers from the influence of social groups. Arguing that such a view underplays the role of entrepreneurs and landowners in Chiles neoliberal transformation, Eduardo Silva examines how shifting coalitions of social groups with varying power resources influenced policy formulations and assesses their impact on Chiles transition to democracy. }Chile emerged from military rule in the 1990s as a leader of free market economic reform and democratic stability, and other countries now look to it for lessons in policy design, sequencing, and timing. Explanations for economic change in Chile generally focus on the conditions of strong authoritarianism and insulation of policymakers from the influence of social groups, especially businesspeople and landowners. In this book Eduardo Silva argues that such a view underplays the role of entrepreneurs and landowners in Chiles neoliberal transformation and, hence, their potential effect on economic reform elsewhere.Dr. Silva examines how shifting coalitions of businesspeople and landowners with varying power resources have influenced policy formulation and affected policy outcomes. He then presents the consequences of coalitional shifts for Chiles transition to democracy, arguing that the absence of a multiclass opposition that included capitalists facilitated a political transition based on the authoritarian constitution of 1980 and inhibited its alternative. This situation helped to define the current style of consensual politics that, with respect to the question of social equity, has served to deepen a neoliberal model of welfare statism. }