Constitution of Chile

The current Constitution of Chile was approved by Chilean voters in a controversial plebiscite on September 11, 1980, under the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. It was partially enacted on March 11, 1981 and has been fully effective since March 11, 1990. It was amended considerably on August 17, 1989 (via referendum) and on 22 September 2005 (legislatively), and also in 1991, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. It is Chile's eighth constitution, replacing the constitution of 1925.[1] The Chilean people in the 2020 National Plebiscite overwhelmingly voted to draft a new constitution. On October 25, 2020, a referendum was held which saw Chilean voters overwhelming approve 78% in favor writing a new constitution by a convention.[2][3] This draft constitution is to be approved or rejected by another popular vote referendum in 2022.[2][3]

Political Constitution of the Republic of Chile of 1980

Chile
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Chile
Executive
National Congress
Judiciary
Law
Administrative divisions
Recent elections
Comptroller General
Constitutional Court
Foreign relations
 Chile portal

Legitimacy
See also: 1980 Chilean constitutional referendum

According to the law professor Camel Cazor Aliste, the Constitution of 1980 has problems of legitimacy stemming from two facts. First, the constitutional commission was not representative of the political spectrum of Chile since its members had been handpicked by the Pinochet dictatorship, and opponents of the regime had been deliberately excluded. Also, the constitution's approval was achieved by the government in a controversial and tightly controlled referendum in 1980.[4] Campaigning for the referendum was irregular, with the government calling people to vote positively on the reform, and also using radio and television commercial spots, while the opposition urging people to vote negatively were only able of doing small public demonstrations, without access to television time and limited radio access. There was no electoral roll for this vote, given that the register had been burned during the dictatorship. There were multiple cases of double voting, with at least 3000 CNI agents doing so.[5]

Despite controversy about its conception, it has been frequently modified (nearly 20 times) since democracy was reinstated, with corresponding Parliamentary approval.

Accusations of constitutional bias in legislative apportionment and election mechanisms

It has been argued the 1980 Constitution was designed to favor election of right-wing legislative majorities. Several rounds of constitutional amendments have been enacted since 1980 to correct this concern.[6][7]

Timeline of Constitutions
  • Reglamento para el arreglo de la Autoridad Ejecutiva Provisoria de Chile 1811
  • Reglamento Constitucional 1812
  • Reglamento para el gobierno Provisorio 1814
  • Constitución de 1818
  • Constitución de 1822
  • Constitución de 1823
  • Ensayo Federal de 1826
  • Constitución de 1828
  • Constitución de 1833 - Written among others by Mariano Egaña and Manuel José Gandarillas
  • Constitución de 1925 - Written among others by Arturo Alessandri Palma and José Maza
  • Constitución de 1980 - Written among others by Jaime Guzmán
    • Has been amended in 1989, 1991, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 & 2017.

See also

References
  1. "Chronology". Constitute. Retrieved April 22, 2015.
  2. "Jubilation as Chile votes to rewrite constitution". BBC News. October 26, 2020. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  3. Bonnefoy, Pascale (25 October 2020). "'An End to the Chapter of Dictatorship': Chileans Vote to Draft a New Constitution." The New York Times. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  4. Cazor Aliste, Camel (2000). "Democracia y constitucion en Chile". Revista de Derecho. Austral University of Chile. IX: 25–34. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  5. "Revelan fraude en plebiscito de constitución de 1980". La Nación (Chile). 2012. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. Carey, John M. Malapportionment and ideological bias in Chilean electoral districts. Dartmouth College. May 18, 2015.
  7. Carey, John. Chile’s electoral reform. Global Americans. May 27, 2015.

General references
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.