Chile is a long, narrow strip of land in the South American continent with a long coastline along the Pacific Ocean and also bordering three other countries which are Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. The capital city, Santiago, is located in the country’s Central Valley.
The land that is now Chile was inhabited by a number of indigenous peoples and cultures such as the Inca Empire and the Mapuche. In the mid-16th Century the Spanish Empire conquered Inca rule in the north and centre and colonized the area but was unable to conquer the Mapuche in the South-Central areas, facing continued insurrection and resistance from them and other native groups, the colony also was troubled by Spain’s colonial enemies such as the Dutch and British. The colony ended up becoming one of Spain’s most militarized possessions.
Due to events in Europe in 1808 leading to Napoleon’s brother Joseph being crowned as the Spanish King led to a drive for independence in the Chile colony. A junta was formed in Chile on 18th September 1810 in support of the deposed King Ferdinand VII and led to the colony declaring autonomy. This further spurred a push for full independence.
Jose Miguel Correra and his two brothers formed a movement for total independence in the colony. Soon Spain would try and re-impose rule during a period known as the Reconquista leading to a prolonged struggle as well as infighting between Carrera and Bernardo O’Higgins over leading the fight for independence, leading to Correra to go into exile and in his attempt to return to Chile to fight against O’Higgin’s he would be captured and imprisoned in Argentina and eventually executed.
O’Higgins and his anti-Carrera cohort Jose de San Martin, who was the hero of the Argentine war for Independence, crossed over the Andes into Chile with an army and defeated the royalists and on 12th February 1818 Chile would proclaim an independent republic. Immigration, occupation and treaties were used to consolidate land in the South a part of Chile and the result of the War of the Pacific led to Chile taking land from Bolivia and Peru, expanding the country northward.
From then there was a civil war and several military coups that shaped the country, including the coup on 11th September 1973 that started the Pinochet military dictatorship lasting for 16-years which led to 1,000s either being missing or dead and a new constitution being adopted in 1981. Due to economic collapse, continued resistance and the result of a referendum that denied the dictator another 8-year-term in office the country eventually returned to a democratic republic and basically what it is till this day.
The National Language in Chile is Spanish and the largest religion is Roman Catholic. The country’s currency is the Peso since 1975. The country’s population is estimated to reach 18,186,770 by July 2020 according to the CIA World Factbook.
Government Type
Chile is a representative democratic presidential republic which means it has a President as both Head of State and Head of Government. The parliament has two chambers, the lower chamber which is the Chamber of Deputies and the upper chamber which is the Senate, making up the legislative section of government. Multiple parties are allowed.
Executive Government
The executive Government is led by the democratically elected President as Head of Government. The President as Head of State also represents the country abroad in diplomatic and foreign affairs. The President has a number of executive powers at his disposal.
The President must obtain consent from the Senate (upper chamber of parliament) to leave the country for longer than thirty days. The order of precedence for the President of the Nation is the President of the Senate being interim of the President of the Nation cannot take his place, if the Senate President cannot then it will be the President of the Chamber of Deputies and if that President cannot then it will be the President of the Supreme Court, the interim leader will have the title of Vice-President. This can happen for example if a President-elect is halted from taking his position for whatever reason, if it is permanent then fresh elections will be called.
But if the President of the Nation is temporarily unable to perform duties then a titular minister in accordance with the order of legal precedence will be given interim and be temporary Vice-President of the Nation, if no Ministers are able to take over then the order of precedence will lead to the Presidents of Parliament and the President of the Supreme Court again. If the absence becomes permanent and a vacancy happens, fresh elections will be called if the presidential term still has two or more years left, otherwise if less than two-years left a Plenary Congress will form and elect a President by absolute majority of Deputies and Senators.
The President’s jobs and powers include participation in the making of laws and to assent and promulgate them. Can demand if needed an extraordinary session of congress. Convokes referendums. Can declare constitutional exceptions for exceptional and emergency powers during times of crises under guidelines and rules set out in the constitution and with consent from parliament and further extensions granted by them.
Can appoint and dismiss at will members of Government including Ministers of State, undersecretaries, intendants and Governors. Along with agreement from the Senate, the President appoints the Comptroller General of the Republic.
The Ministers of State are the direct and immediate collaborators of the President in government and administration of the state, the law determines number and organisation of ministers. Minister’s must have citizenship of Chile, be at least 21-years or older and meet the general requirements for entry into Public Administration.
Regulations and decrees by the President require the counter-signature of the relevant minister to have affect. The ministers are responsible for the acts they signed and jointly responsible for those subscribed or agreed to with other Ministers.
Ministers can attend sessions of the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate and can take part in their debate but does not have the right to vote.
The President sees to the collection of public revenue and decrees their investment in accordance with the law. During time of emergency the President can invest public revenue payments not authorized by law as long as the President gets a signature from all Ministers of State.
In fulfilling the President’s role in diplomatic and foreign affairs, appointing ambassadors and diplomatic ministers and representatives to international organisms. The President conducts political relations with foreign powers and international organisms and carries out negotiations. He also concludes, signs and ratifies the treaties, treaties must be submitted to Congress for approval.
The President can appoint and remove the Commanders-in-Chief of the Army, Navy and Air Force and the General Director of the Carabineros. Provides for appointments, promotions and retirement of the Officials of the Armed Forces and of the Carabineros.
Can command the air, sea and land forces as well as organize and deploy them in accordance with the necessities of national security. Assumes, in the case of war, the supreme command of the country’s armed forces. Can declare war with previous authorization by law and from Parliament, with the requirement to place on record that the President has heard the Council of National Security.
Appoints the magistrates and judicial prosecutors of the Courts of Appeal and the career judges, on the proposal of the Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal, respectively. And finally appoints magistrates and judicial attorneys of the Supreme Court and the National Attorney, on the proposal of the Supreme Court as well as with agreement from the Senate.
The President is charged with overseeing the ministerial conduct of the judges and other employees of the Judicial Power including requesting the Supreme Court, when needed, to declare misconduct, or request the public ministry to demand disciplinary measures from the competent tribunal.
The President can grant individual pardons from lawful punishment in the cases and forms that the law determines. Functionaries accused by the Chamber of Deputies and condemned by the Senate cannot be pardoned by the President but only by Congress.
The Constitutional Tribunal is made up of 10 members, four elected by congress, two of which are proposed by the Chamber of Deputies and two appointed by the Senate, the Senate also decides on the two proposed by the Deputies, the appointments and proposals are decided by a two-thirds vote. Three are appointed by the President and the final three are elected by the Supreme Court. Members serve 9-years and are renewed in threes.
Legislative Government
The legislative government is made up of an upper and lower chamber known colloquially as the National Congress. The upper chamber is called the Senate while the lower chamber is called the House of Deputies. Its main purpose is for the formation of laws and debating on them as well as amending them and either passing or rejecting such legislation, with both chambers required to come to a full agreement on all legislation for it to pass to the President for promulgation. Both chambers can introduce legislation, but only the Chamber of Deputies can introduce money bills and only the Senate can introduce bills concerning amnesty and general pardons. There are further limiting rules on how members can change/affect money bills and budgets.
A rejected bill cannot return for 1-year but the President can choose to introduce the bill (if it is of his initiative) to the other Chamber and if passed by them with at least a two-third vote it can only be rejected by the other Chamber in a two-third vote.
Bills rejected in a house that is revising it (as it originated in the other house that passed it) the rejected bill will be looked at by a Mixed Commission of senators and deputies in an attempt to come to an agreement on the bill. If this commission fails the President can request the originating chamber to pass the bill again but with at least a two-third vote, of which the revising chamber will need a vote of two-thirds to reject it again.
When congress passes a bill, it goes on to the President of the Nation for promulgation, but he can choose to return it to the chamber of origin within thirty days if he disapproves of it, the returned bill will include the appropriate observations. If congress members pass the bill unchanged again by a two-third vote the President must promulgate it. If the President makes no action on a bill passed within 30 days it will automatically be considered approved and promulgated.
The Chamber of Deputies, the lower chamber, currently has 155 elected members.
Exclusive jobs/powers of the Chamber of Deputies include controlling acts of government, such as members adopting agreements or suggesting observations, in response the President must give a response through the corresponding Minister of State within thirty days. Any Deputy, along with one-third of the vote of other deputies can request specific records from the government.
With a petition of at least one-third of deputies a Minister of State can be summoned to formulate questions in response to their exercise of responsibilities. A single Minister cannot be summoned more than three times in a calendar year unless there is prior agreement with an absolute majority of members.
A petition of at least one-fifth of deputies can request a special investigatory commission which can issue obligatory summons and requests for information on a vote of one-third of their members. Again, Ministers of State cannot be summoned more than three times to an investigatory commission without prior agreement of the absolute majority of members.
Finally the House of Deputies can declare if there is cause or not for accusations made by not less than ten and no more than twenty of its members against either the President of the Nation, Ministers of State, magistrates, Comptroller General of the Republic, generals, admirals, intendents and Governors for things such as high treason, embezzlement, abandonment of duties and so on. It can lead to suspensions and further action; the Senate can choose to reverse these decisions though if it disagrees.
The Senate, the upper chamber, currently has 43 elected members which is meant to be increased to 55 elected members in 2021 according to the CIA World Factbook.
Exclusive jobs/powers of the Senate include taking cognizance of the accusations initiated by the Chamber of Deputies and will decide as a jury and will declare if the accused is or is not guilty of what has been charged on them by the Deputies, decided by a majority, unless it is the President where instead it is decided by a two-third vote.
If found guilty by the Senate the person is removed from their position/office and cannot hold public function, whether public election or not, for five years.
Also decides if there is cause on judicial action against Ministers of State from individuals on grounds of damages unjustly suffered by an act of said minister in the performance of their position. Also takes cognizance on conflicts of competence between political or administrative authorities and superior tribunals of justice.
Grants recovery of citizenship.
Give or deny consent to acts of the President in cases where the constitution or the law requires. Grants approval for the President to leave the country for longer than thirty days.
After the Constitutional Tribunal has been heard the Senate can declare the incapacity of the President or President-elect due to physical or mental impediment and accepts or rejects the President’s resignation.
And finally, votes by two-thirds to accept designation of ministers, judicial prosecutors of the Supreme Court and of the National Attorney.
Congress as a whole, votes to approve or reject international treaties.
Electoral System
Presidential elections happen every 4-years. Presidential Elections use a two-round system where a candidate requires an absolute majority to win outright in the 1st round, otherwise a 2nd round will be held between the two best performing candidates which is won by simple majority.
Candidates for President must be a citizen of Chile, at least 35-years or older, possess other requirements necessary to be a citizen with the right of suffrage. A single person can serve for President for a single 4-year term before stepping aside but can run again after 4-years.
Parliamentary elections are held every 4-years to elect all the members of the Chamber of Deputies. Members are elected from multi-seat electoral districts using an Open List Proportional Representation system allowing parties that reach a certain threshold of the vote to have guaranteed representation that is proportional with the percentage of the vote achieved.
Candidates for the Chamber of Deputies must be a citizen of Chile with the right of suffrage, be at least 21-years or older, to have completed secondary education or something equivalent, and to have residence in the region of the corresponding electoral district they are running for and to have lived there for at least 2-years preceding the election.
Half of the Senate is re-elected every 4-years (with elected members serving 8-year terms). Members are elected from multi-seat senatorial circumscriptions that represent each of the country’s 16 regions, each region has at least one senatorial circumscription but some may have more than one senatorial circumscription for better representation. Members are elected by an Open List Proportional Representation system just like Deputies are in Electoral Districts.
Candidates for Senate only have one differing requirement than Deputy candidates which are that they must be at least 35-years or older.
To vote one must be a citizen of Chile and at least 18-years-old, foreigners must wait 5-years before they can vote. Voting is not mandatory. A person cannot vote if they have been sentenced to afflictive punishment, if they have been declared insane, if a person is being charged with a crime that deserves afflictive punishment or if the crime is terrorist conduct or punished by the Constitutional Tribunal.
Sources
My source is from Chile’s 1980 constitution with amendments through to 2012 (on constitute.org) and so it should be as accurate as possible but there is always the chance I may have mis-interpreted some parts and as well as that the constitution can change and so this may eventually become outdated, so cross-research is always important if using this in a serious capacity.
CIA World Factbook for population, electoral process and constitutional amendment process.
The constitution can be changed at the request of members of either chamber of National Congress or by the President. Either three-fifth or two-third vote is required in the National Congress to pass amendments depending on what is being amended and then the President must give approval, the President can choose to hold a National Referendum on it if the National Congress and President disagree over the amendment.
Next up is a big one – China’s government system!
Thank you for reading this post, if you have any queries please Email me, you can find my Email in the Contacts & Community section. Please also follow The Weekly Rambler on Twitter and Facebook which you can access through the buttons at the bottom of this website. You can also use the social media buttons under each blogpost to share with your family, friends and associates. You can also subscribe to Email notifications at the right-side of this website to know whenever a new post goes up (you can easily unsubscribe from this at any time through a button in each Email notification), or alternatively you can use an RSS Feed Reader. Please also join my FB Group The Weekly Ramblers Readers Group where readers can more easily talk with each other and also with me whenever I am on, you can also find it in Community.