Species of Capital in the Political Elite: Who Rules in Chile?

ISBN-13: 9783030411749 / Angielski / Miękka / 2021 / 288 str.

Luis Garrido-Vergara

Spis treści

Introduction

Chapter I: The study of political elites: Theoretical framework

i. The sociology of elites

ii. Political elites and social class

iii. Elites, political representation and power structure

v. The study of political elites through their species of capital. Identifying the theoretical contribution of this study

vi. Study of political elites in Latin America and Chile

vii. Political elite research in Chile

viii. Political elites, social capital and species of capital in Chile

ix. Concluding remarks

Chapter II. Political elites and social, political and economic transformations in Latin America

i. Introduction

ii. Political elites and dictatorial regimes

iii. Democratisation processes and the relation between legislative and executive powers

iv. Economic changes and the social structure

v. Conclusions

Chapter III. End of the authoritarian regime and rearticulation of the political elites in Chile

i. Introduction

ii. Origins of the party elites after the political transition

ii.i. 1980 Constitution

ii.ii. 1988 plebiscite and a new political system

ii.iii. Chile in 1988: the transition as a “transaction”

ii.iv. Enclaves after the democratic transition

iii. Conclusions

Chapter IV. Two new coalitions in post-authoritarian Chile: the Concertación and the Alianza

i. Introduction

ii. The Concertación

ii. The Alianza

iii. Conclusions

Chapter V: Political performance of the party elites after Pinochet: 1990-2010

i. Introduction

ii. Transformation of the Chilean party system

iii. A political elite “a la chilena”

iv. Electoral performance of the Chilean political elites, 1990-2010

v. Conclusions

Chapter VI: Research methodology

i. Introduction

ii. Research strategy

iii. Research methods, fieldwork and data analysis

iv. Data analysis: validity, coding and analysis

v. Methodological limitations

v. Conclusions

Chapter VII: The importance of family ties in the Chilean political elite

i. Introduction

ii. The study of family ties within political elites

iii. Chilean political dynasties

iii.i. Errázuriz family: 1770-1990

iii.ii. Montt family: 1770-2015

iii.iii. Alessandri family: 1898-2014

iii.iv. Pinto-Bulnes family: 1810-2011

iii.v. Piñera-Chadwick family: 1811-2015

iii.vi. Frei-Walker family: 1870-2015

iii.vii. Allende family: 1876-2015

iii.viii. Aylwin family: 1957-2003

iv. Family connections within the political elite after Pinochet

v. Conclusions

Chapter VIII. Measuring and comparing species of capital in the Chilean political elite, 1990-2010

i. Introduction

ii. Methodology, hypothesis and techniques of analysis

iii. Results

iii.i. Descriptive analysis

iii.ii. Measuring and comparing species of capital in the Chilean political elite

iv. Conclusions

ix. Conclusions and discussion

i. Principal findings

ii. Towards a research agenda on political elites

O autorze

Luis Garrido-Vergara is Assistant Professor at the Department of Public Policy and Management at the University of Santiago, Chile (USACH). He received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Cambridge, UK. His research interests are political elites, public policy, public administration, network analysis, quantitative and qualitative research, local governments and democratization processes in Latin America.

Blurb

Although sociological research has examined the reproduction of Chile’s elites, there is little empirical evidence as to how different forms of capital operate within them. Based on a survey of the country’s elites, this study examines the effect of different forms of capital (cultural, social and political) on access to strategic positions in the legislative and executive branches of government. It focuses on the political elite between 1990, when military dictator Augusto Pinochet handed over the presidency to Patricio Aylwin, his democratically elected successor, and 2010, the end of President Michelle Bachelet’s first government. At least three points are germane to this analysis: (1) understanding the nature of the party elites during the political transition; (2) describing and explaining the main aspects of the party elites’ background and social resources, including their family networks (independent variables); and (3) exploring the effect of those variables on individuals’ chances of achieving strategic positions in the political field, comparing the legislative and executive branches as represented by deputies and ministers (dependent variable).