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Chile
Index
With the adoption of the constitution of 1833, Chile
abandoned
earlier attempts to create a federal system and opted for
a unitary
form of government. As such, regional and local
governments became
creatures of national authority, subject to the
legislative and
constitutional powers vested in the central government.
This did
not mean that local governments did not enjoy varying
degrees of
self-determination and autonomy over the years. The 1833
document
provided for the election of local municipal councils
through
direct popular vote, a practice retained by the
constitution of
1925. During much of the nineteenth century, local
governments were
barely able to provide the minimal services they were
charged with,
such as the maintenance of public order and basic
sanitation, given
the scarcity of resources. In 1891, however, the country
embarked
on a bold experiment, providing significant local autonomy
to the
nation's elected municipalities, many of which flourished
under
local leadership with local resources. The center of
gravity of
Chilean politics shifted toward local governments and
their allies
in Congress.
Partly in reaction to the corrupt machine politics of
the city
bosses, the 1925 constitution sought greater oversight of
local
authorities by expanding the democratic process through
the
creation of elected provincial assemblies. However,
enabling
legislation that would have made those assemblies a
reality was
never adopted. Instead, the oversight functions were
turned over to
appointed agents of the central government. During the
dramatic
expansion of the national state in the wake of the Great
Depression, local governments were left behind. Tax
revenues, which
by law were supposed to be returned to local governments,
were
routinely kept by the authorities of the central
government. The
essence of local politics became a struggle to use party
and
patronage networks to extract resources on a preferential
basis for
local development. As the nation's electorate expanded,
local
government officials played an increasingly important role
as
electoral agents. Mayors and councilors became political
brokers
seeking to exchange votes for a water treatment plant, a
stretch of
highway, or jobs for constituents. Elections for local
office were
as hotly contested as elections for national office and
served as
building blocks of party development.
The military regime viewed the somewhat fractious state
of
local politics as proof that parties and politicians were
incapable
of efficient administration. As a result, it designed a
system of
local administration distinctly based on
corporatism (see
Glossary)
and heavily dependent on direct appointments from the
center.
According to the constitution of 1980, regional and local
governments would be administered by intendants and
mayors,
respectively. These figures would be appointed directly by
the
president of the republic, although the mayors of smaller
towns
would be designated by regional councils created to advise
the
intendants. The regional councils would be formed by
employees of
state agencies in the locality, military officers, and
designated
representatives of interest groups with no party
affiliation. This
conception of regional government would be extended to the
municipal level with similarly designated local councils.
Although this scheme would make local authorities
highly
dependent on appointments from above, the military
government also
took an important step to decentralize state functions by
giving
local administrative units greatly increased resources and
autonomy
to make local governments viable. A notable example was
the
decision to give municipal governments far more
responsibility for
elementary and secondary education and other local
services.
The Aylwin government made the restoration of democracy
at the
grass-roots level a matter of high priority. Many
opposition
leaders on the right shared the view that the military
regime had
gone too far in eradicating the country's long tradition
of elected
local governments. After considerable debate, the
government and
the National Renewal party were able to reach consensus on
a
constitutional reform law, adopted in November 1991, to
change
Chapter 13 of the constitution dealing with local
administration
(Law 19,097).
The constitutional reform was followed by the adoption
of a new
Organic Constitutional Law on Municipalities (Law 19,130
of March
19, 1992), which paved the way for municipal elections in
June
1992. Under the law, local governments are formed by a
municipal
council and a mayor who serve four-year terms and are
elected
through a proportional representation system. Candidates
must be
sponsored by registered political parties that obtained at
least 5
percent of the vote in previous contests. The number of
councilors
varies, from six in smaller municipalities to ten in the
larger
ones. The law establishes that the councilor who receives
the most
votes on the party list that receives the largest number
of votes
is elected mayor, provided that he or she obtains at least
35
percent of the total vote. If this requirement is not met,
the
mayor is elected by the municipal council from among its
own number
by an absolute majority of the vote. The Organic
Constitutional Law
on Municipalities requires that the mayor and councilors
be
citizens in good standing, reside in the region where they
are
running for office, and be literate. It bars government
officials
and members of Congress from running for local office. It
is the
mayor's responsibility to propose a communal plan, a
budget,
investment programs, and zoning plans to the municipal
council for
approval. The mayor also appoints delegates to remote
areas of the
community. The municipal council approves local ordinances
and
regulations and oversees the work of the mayor, being
authorized to
call to the attention of the comptroller general any
irregularities.
Municipalities have sole responsibility for traffic
regulation,
urban planning and zoning, garbage collection, and
beautification.
Municipal governments work closely with state agencies on
a host of
other matters, ranging from public health to tourism,
recreation,
and education, and are authorized to create administrative
units to
oversee each of these activities. Most of the municipal
resources
come from the Common Municipal Fund, administered by the
Ministry
of Interior, which endeavors to favor poorer areas in the
distribution of resources for local government. The law on
municipalities also calls for the creation of an economic
and
social council in each municipality. This is an advisory
body
constituted by representatives of local organized groups,
including
neighborhood associations and functional organizations,
such as
parent-teacher associations and mothers' groups.
On June 23, 1992, 6.4 million Chileans (90 percent of
the
nation's registered voters) participated in Chile's first
municipal
elections since 1971. As was done in the congressional
elections of
1989, joint lists designed to maximize electoral fortunes
were
formed by both the progovernment and the antigovernment
parties.
The results of the municipal contests did not deviate
substantially
from those observed in the earlier race. The CPD obtained
60.6
percent of the vote, to the right's 30 percent (38 percent
if the
independent Union of the Centrist Center [Unión de Centro
Centro--
UCC] is counted with the right) (see
table 39, Appendix).
Nationwide elections for the country's thirteen
regional
councils were held in April 1993. The CPD won the majority
of the
thirteen regions. Of the total of 244 regional council
members
elected nationwide, 134 were CPD candidates and eighty-six
were
candidates of the opposition parties of the right. Another
thirteen
seats went to independent candidates or those from other
parties.
A tie resulted only in the sparsely populated Aisén del
General
Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region in the far south, where the
government and the opposition each won eight council
seats.
Data as of March 1994
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