Representación política y democracia en Chile, 2005-2013

Abstract

This book analyses and describes the different dimensions of

Chileans’ political subjectivity, mainly through the development of

expectations and the frustrations of political representation. To do

this, it delves into the creation and evolution of the (historical and contemporary) representation model through which Chileans have come to understand, behave and participate in all things political, public and connected to citizenship. The study concentrates on defining this social, political and cultural subjectivity and, at the same time, on defining the capacities of the political system and the public arena in order to integrate and develop this bias both nationally and locally. Understanding the limits of the representation problem and of political development in a democratic context such as Chile is one of the theoretical challenges of this thesis. One of the main outcomes of this study is that it verifies the historical and contemporary incapacity of the Chilean socio-political system to incorporate political subjectivity into its political and institutional causes. It shows how, throughout their history, Chileans have experienced a growing dissatisfaction with their surroundings. This dissatisfaction is related to the few opportunities available for them to develop in territorial (central) and community contexts and in organisational, regional and national (participatory) ways; to authorities (representation); to market expectations (feelings of abuse) and to society (mistrust of others). Thanks to democratisation policies and democracy, Chile has been emptied of citizen participation. On the other hand, it can be seen that Chileans feel that the country has grown, although they perceive a certain distance between this growth and their own lives. Their expectations are low and their socio-economic standing is unstable. At the same time, in this context, their disorientation and disregard for the State, the market and the ‘other’ society is greater. There is no ‘community’ of individuals in Chile but rather a ‘group’ of individuals. For that reason, this study concludes that the political challenge faced by Chile as a society refers to the politicisation of its citizens and public matters, since apathy is not the reason for exclusion. The real reason for this is a representation system that changes at a slower rhythm than people’s political bias and that has created a democracy that involves the participation of institutions but not citizens.