Demócratas y nostálgicos del antiguo régimen

Los apoyos a la democracia en Chile

Abstract

This article analyses the prop-up supports given to democracy in Chile in the context of its
political development, particularly the impact of the Pinochet régime and the peculiarities of the
political transition. The results of CERC surveys from 1986 referring to legitimacy and efficiency of
democracy were used. The analyses show Chile among the Latin American countries that have a
more modest support of democracy, despite the good economic indicators that were present for a
large part of the 1990’s. These results have, in turn, remained as time constants. Analyses of logistic
regression show that the low level of support of legitimacy and efficiency of democracy in Chile is
predicted by a variety of factors existing before the inauguration of the pluralistic order. By virtue of
these results, it is asserted that the experience of Chile does not support the thesis that the existence
of a past authoritarian régime strengthens legitimacy over democracy, but that it constitutes a
reference point for the supporters of the former régime to attempt to keep democracy at a distance.
The importance of the Chilean political context is shown so as to give an understandign of such
conduct.