La alta dirección pública: mérito, profesionalización y modernización del estado en Chile

Abstract

This study examines the professionalisation of the Chilean state from the beginning of the twentieth century to the early 2020s, with a particular emphasis on the principles of merit, accountability, and performance assessment. Within the Latin American and Caribbean region, Chile stands out as one of the countries that has made the most significant progress in developing a professionalised public administration and an institutional framework capable of limiting clientelism and enhancing democratic governance. The research argues that the Chilean case constitutes a privileged vantage point for analysing the complex relationship between politics and bureaucracy, and the tensions that arise when meritocratic practices and political discretion coexist within the state.

At the core of the study lies the Senior Public Management System (Sistema de Alta Dirección Pública, SADP), created in 2003 as part of the newly established National Directorate of Civil Service. Conceived as a response to corruption scandals that eroded public trust, the SADP sought to strengthen the Chilean state by introducing transparent recruitment processes for senior civil servants, thereby promoting merit-based appointments and reducing the risks of clientelism. The study demonstrates that the SADP represents both an institutional innovation and a turning point in the broader process of state modernisation, although its consolidation has been uneven and subject to political pressures.