The struggle for democracy in Chile, 1982-1990

Abstract

After a decade of dictatorship, the resurrection of democratic forces in Chile began with the debt crisis and recession of the early 1980s. Mass demonstrations erupted and political parties revived with unexpected vigour despite the repression of General Augusto Pinochet's regime. In 1988, to the astonishment of the world, Pinochet allowed his opponents to win an honest plebiscite and accepted the resulting transition to democracy. The Struggle for Democracy in Chile, 1982-1990 discusses in comprehensive detail that unusual transition. This book provides background on the evolution of the military dictatorship in the 1970s and then concentrates on its erosion in the 1980s. It concludes with the installation of Patricio Aylwin as the democratically-elected president in 1990. Essays examine how the most significant social and political sectors reacted to liberalization in the 1980s, and how the opposition took advantage of the dictatorship's own legality to bring about an end to authoritarian rule.