The Hidden Logic of Candidate Selection for Chilean Parliamentary Elections

Abstract

The political consequences of Chile's two member district (binominal) parliamentary electoral system have been the subject of much academic and political debate.' Most analyses of the electoral formula have focused on its consequences for the country's party system.2 Nonetheless, little has been written on how the system affects parliamentary candidate selection and electoral list composition. The process of candidate selection is little understood by Chileans and students of Chilean politics alike. Very little has been written on internal party processes in Chile or in Latin America generally. In addition, most studies of candidate selection focus on European parliamentary governments or the United States and are less relevant to Latin America's predominantly multiparty, presidential systems. This article makes some preliminary generalizations concerning the process of parliamentary candidate selection in Chile. It sets out the context of electoral reform and its connection to candidate selection and goes on to suggest some of the impediments to understanding the process in Chile. It then explores the actual mechanisms of candidate selection for legislative elections on three interrelated, yet analytically distinct, levels. First, it suggests what makes candidates attractive to political parties and analyzes how parties choose candidates. Second, it explores the rationale of party elites in forming pacts and coalitions and discusses the most important variables that determine which of the subpacts' constituent parties are awarded candidacies in which districts. Third, it analyzes the incentives that shape candidate selection within major coalitions and the way these coalitions determine the composition of national lists. It establishes generally applicable rules that govern candidate selection within coalitions and provides a schematic diagram of these rules. The final section provides evidence of these rules through empirical discussion of the candidate selection process, underscoring some of the paradoxes in candidate choice produced by this unique electoral system. Contrary to simplistic assumptions concerning the desire of parties and coalitions to maximize votes, a much more complex constellation of variables influences where and with which coalition partners candidates run. Leaders attempt to achieve a series of discrete objectives, many of which are contradictory and some of which are not particularly well thought out in terms of their political consequences. Maximizing