1st Edition
The Boric Government in Chile Between Refoundation and Reform
This book analyses the victory of Gabriel Boric in Chile during the presidential elections of December 2021. He brought the radical left into power, after three decades of centre- left and right- wing governments. In order to explain this abrupt political mutation in the country, the book explores a series of fast and deep social and cultural transformations experienced in the country in the last decades. In addition, the book considers the main features of the new Boric government both in terms of goals and in terms of performance in his first year in office in several key areas of policy making.
The triumph of the radical left in Chile poses several questions regarding the ability of the Boric administration to guarantee political and economic stability in the country. Among the greatest challenges the Boric government will have to face in the coming years are the reduction of inflation, the reactivation of the economy, the regulation of illegal immigration and the improvement of public security among the population. This book constitutes the first major academic attempt in the English language to provide a broad analysis of the Boric government in Chile and the changes the country will experience in the years ahead.
The book will be of interest to students, scholars and practitioners who are interested in the evolution of the Latin American left in general, and the Chilean left in particular. The book has been conceived from a multidisciplinary perspective, including insights coming from history, sociology, political science, economics, institutional law and development studies.
Boric’s Government and Its Transformative Hallmark
Carlos Peña and Patricio Silva
Part I
Boric the Politician
1 Boric and the Generational Left
Carlos Peña
2 Boric and the Legal-Constitutional Path
Javier Couso
3 Boric and the Populist Temptation
Patricio Navia
Part II
Boric and Politics
4 Boric and the Centre-Left: From Vilification to a Tactical Alliance
Patricio Silva
5 Boric’s Triumph and Disputes within the Chilean Right
Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser
6 Boric and the Dispute for Governability in Chile
José Joaquín Brunner
7 Social (De)Mobilisation in Boric’s Government
Camila Jara Ibarra
Part III
Boric and Public Policies
8 Boric and the Challenges for the Chilean Economy
Mauricio G. Villena
9 Social Policies in Gabriel Boric’s Government
Rossana Castiglioni
10 Public Security Challenges in Boric’s Government
Claudio Fuentes
The Challenges of the Boric Government
Carlos Peña and Patricio Silva
Biography
Carlos Peña is Rector of the Universidad Diego Portales and Professor of Civil Law at the Universidad de Chile. He is the author of several books, among others, El desafío constitucional (The Constitutional Challenge); Pensar el malestar (Modernization and Its Discontent); and Lo que el dinero sí puede comprar (What Money Can Buy). He is co- editor with Patricio Silva of Social Revolt in Chile: Triggering Factors and Possible Outcomes (Routledge, 2022).
Patricio Silva is Full Professor of Modern Latin American History at Leiden University, The Netherlands. He has authored several books and numerous articles on democratization issues in Latin America in general and in Chile in particular. He is the author of In the Name of Reason: Technocrats and Politics in Chile and Public Probity and Corruption in Chile (Routledge, 2019).
‘Since the October 2019 protests, books about Chilean politics have tended to generate more heat than light. This timely volume edited by Carlos Peña and Patricio Silva sets out to change that. Instead of tired clichés about neo-liberalism, the book provides insightful analyses of the generational nature of the movement that ushered Gabriel Boric to the presidency, the scrupulously legalistic nature of his administration, the economic and security challenges it faces, and the frightening prospect that Chile´s first government of the far left could be followed by one of the far right. A first rate volume — highly recommendable’.
Prof. Andrés Velasco, Dean of the School of Public Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
