Democracy, Market Economics, and Environmental Policy in Chile

Abstract

hile's return to democratic rule with sustained economic growth provided the opportunity for some much-welcomed political space that, it was hoped, would permit the country to attend, at long last, to a number of pressing issues which had been long deferred, if not ignored, by the previous military government. Some of those issues, such as the consolidation of democracy, poverty, and human rights, had been the subject of considerable study by scholars. Much less studied, however, although also on the agenda, was the promise to address Chile's environmental problems, which had become much exacerbated under the laissez-faire economic model favored by the military regime. Because the new democratic administrations have followed through on that promise, the Chilean example lends support to that hypothesis which holds that environmental concerns in developing countries can be addressed more effectively under economically stable democratic regimes than by authoritarian political systems. While Chile's recent environmental policy clearly offers hope for the future, it also presents a challenge. Policy debates on environmental questions have been surprisingly sharp and bruising. The force and outcome of these debates give rise to two questions. First, can developing countries with neoliberal policy orientations consider a sufficiently Eduardo Silva is Assistant Professor of Political Science and a Fellow of the