The Chilean Economic and Political Model: Institutional Development at the Crossroads

Abstract

Chile can be characterized as a country having an economic and political model that over the last three decades has shown an important development in its main institutions, which has allow to sustain strong economic growth together with social progress and political stability. However, the strengthening of its institutions is the origin of the main weaknesses that threat the country, i.e. the social exclusion and the increasing inequality of opportunities. To sustain this hypothesis, this work focuses on five areas of the Chilean institutional development: economic reforms, social development, economic institutions, political institutions, and the subsequent business climate the country has built. The main conclusion brought up by this article is that, despite being considered as a successful project, the economic and political Chilean model has not reach complete legitimacy because it has not been able to guarantee legal certainty with social inclusion and equality of opportunities.