Political Transition of Chilean Authoritarian Regime

• Main Authors: Kan Wen Tien, 甘文田
• Other Authors: Mrs. Wang
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 1996
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/83714083947750054238

碩士 === 淡江大學 === 拉丁美洲研究所 === 84 === From 1830 to 1973, Chile enjoyed more than a century of de- cracy,receiving high praise and widespread recognition acrossworld. Except for brief setbacks in 1924 and 1932, Chileessed well-developed democracy and party politics,held open and free elections periodically, and guaranteed citizenship and basic human rights to Chileans. In Latin America, where mili- tary coups have been the norm,Chile''s achievements can been seens all the more admirable. In 1973, during the reign of the left-wing coalitionovernment of Salvador Allende, a coup d''etat broke out due to political and socioeconomic crises. As a result, Chile began toollow a pendulum-swing of "democracy or dictatorship", a pheno- menon prevalent in the Latin American region. However, despite the coup,many Chileans remained optimisticbout their country''s future. Because there were few incidentsthe past where Chilean military power had intervened initics, and because Chileans were used to the democratic way of life, Chileans continued to believe that their country would soon return to democracy. But contrary to what was hoped,hileans military forces not only assumed power with littlefficulty, but also intened to establish a permanent military- controlled government. As a result, Chile was put underictatorial military rule for 15 years,which was the longestmost severe authoritarian rule in Chile''s history. So what were the factors that enabled the Chilean military toold on to power for 15 years? And what made Chile eventuallyturn to democracy? These are the questions this thesis proveso, based on relative theories of democratic transitions. Theor has also construct analytical variables accordingly tothe case.