Chile: The Authoritarian Transition to Electoral Politics

Abstract

September and early October 1986 marked the culmination of a decisive shift in Chilean politics that has enormous significance for the future evolution of the country. In a rapid redefinition of positions, the Alianza Democratica (Democratic Alliance, or AD),1 a conglomeration of seven opposition parties grouping centrist, rightist, and social democrats, broke decisively with the left-wing coalition, the Movimento Democratica Popular (Democratic Popular Movement, or MDP),2 and quickly moved toward a restatement of its tactics and relationship with the Pinochet dictatorship and his 1980 Constitution. The new line adopted by the party elite of the AD transfers the axis of opposition struggle from the streets to downtown meeting rooms and replaces the actions of hundreds of thousands of shantytown dwellers, trade unionists, women, professionals, and students with the negotiating talent of a handful of party officials. The new tactics of the AD displaces social mobilization of the masses in favor of politicalelectoral maneuvers of Chile's political class. Thus, to meet the conditions for fruitful dialogue with the armed forces, the AD has ended up renouncing past alliances with the MDP, denouncing the self-defense activity of the popular movement, disarticulating mass protests, promoting peaceful petitioning, and accepting Pinochet's 1980 Constitution and his time schedule for a plebiscite in 1989.3 What is central to the political shifts among the Chilean opposition are not merely tactical issues but basic questions about the nature and