Universalism and privatization. An analysis of Chilean educational policies from the return to democratic governments (1990 – 2018).

• In Event: Shaping Educational Change in Latin America and the Caribbean

Proposal

In the study on welfare regimes, a topic of increasing importance over the past two decades (Mesa-Lago, 1978; Huber, 1996; Castiglioni, 2005; Haggard & Kaufman, 2008; Huber & Stephens, 2012; Pribble 2013; Martínez- Franzoni and Sánchez-Ancochea 2016), has been a critical area of development. Studying Latin America has necessitated a nuanced approach, adapting the analysis to the unique characteristics of the region that distinguish it from industrialized countries (Filgueira et al 2006; Huber & Stephens, 2012; Pribble, 2013; Martínez-Franzoni & Sánchez-Ancochea, 2016; Arza et al., 2022).
Researchers using universalism to study social policy development have addressed the problem more comprehensively (Huber & Stephens, 2012; Pribble, 2013; Martínez Franzoni & Sánchez-Ancochea, 2016). In contrast, those who use the expansion or contraction of social policy focused on increasing public spending in different areas and the coverage level (Castiglioni, 2005; Segura-Ubiergo, 2007; Garay, 2016; Niezdwiecki, 2018). During the last time, there has been consensus that this approach is not enough and has been complex, including dimensions such as equity, generosity of public financing, and the quality of services (Castiglioni, 2018; Arza et al., 2022). Likewise, performing analysis compared to other areas creates a universalism concept tension because the dimensions and indicators considered are not necessarily the most relevant for education.
Studying the Chilean case is of paramount importance, as it stands as an iconic example of the global implementation of market-driven educational policies (Bellei, 2015; Verger et al., 2017a; Bellei & Muñoz, 2021). The structural reform during the dictatorship introduced market policies that significantly impacted three key areas. These included a shift in the education financing system, the incorporation of private establishments with public financing in the educational offer, and the transfer of educational establishments and their officials from the Ministry of Education to local municipalities or governments (Bellei, 2015; Verger et Al., 2017b; Venables & Chamorro, 2020).
Based on the above, this research seeks to analyze the universalism achieved by Chilean educational policies from the return to democratic governments to the second period of Michelle Bachelet, a government in which policies were promoted that, for the first time, try to modify market principles (Bellei, 2018; Treviño, 2018). To develop this analysis, we build a database with the normative instruments - laws and decrees - of the period considered and select the relevant ones for the analysis according to the criteria of inclusion and exclusion defined. Then, for the conceptualization and operationalization, we use the scheme of Quiero-Bastías (2023), from which we encode each educational policy to obtain the levels of universalism of each government.
This analysis differs from those of others who have studied Chilean educational policies. First, some have considered the central policies of each government to define with a holistic approach the universalism of each government (Huber & Stephens, 2012; Pribble, 2013) or who consider each government a relatively uniform unit (Cox, 2012; Bellei & Vanni, 2015; Niedzwiecki & Pribble, 2023). Secondly, some studies focus on analyzing the different phases based on the types of educational policies of the governments on duty (Bellei, 2016; Bellei & Muñoz, 2021; Falabella, 2021). However, this study carries out a systematic review of the educational policies of each government, allowing variations within the same government and using a conceptualization and operationalization that makes it possible to define the different levels of universalism of the different governments and their comparability over time.
The results show a gradual advance in universalism between 1990 and 2018, with a decrease in the right-wing government of the period and without any government having reached high levels of universalism. The weakest dimensions determining the levels of universalism are financing and equity in the case of three and two governments, respectively. In contrast, the dimension with better performance is access to education. Finally, the second government of Michelle Bachelet, along with being the first to promote policies that try to modify the market principles, is the one that obtains a higher level of universalism, achieving an emerging level.
While universalism gradually increased, no government achieved advanced levels or drove a universalist reform in the analyzed period, reaching only the emerging level in the second Bachelet government. This result is consistent with the evidence that there are not necessarily significant changes between governments because political legacies play a relevant role in the evolution of social policies (Pierson, 1994; Pribble, 2013), and education is no exception. Likewise, the financing dimension determines the universalism levels of three of the six governments and, on average, is the lowest score dimension of the four. This is consistent with the fact that during these six governments and until today, the financing of Chilean education has not changed, which could have been an obstacle to reaching higher levels of universalism in Chilean educational policies.

Authors

• Maximo Francisco Quiero, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile

• Cristobal Villalobos, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile