Assessing the Bachelet Government: Chile's Paradox of Apathy and Discontent

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

At the end of her first term about 80 percent of Chileans supported President Bachelet. Polls conducted on August of 2016 indicate that only 15 percent of Chileans support the beleaguered president. The goal of this panel is to analyze Bachelet’s approaches to critical political and policy issues across a variety of areas focusing on the sources of both apathy and discontent that have led to the current “governability crisis”.

The panel will cover a number of critical issues affecting the Bachelet administration including the president’s policy-making style and its societal impact, the political issues affecting the government coalition, and the role that social movements have had both in creating a perception of discontent and also promoting reforms. Thus, the paper by Gregory Weeks will compare and contrast the consensus driven policy- making style of the first Bachelet administration with the more conflictive approach used during the current administration across a various policy areas. Peter Siavelis, in turn, will seek to understand the relationship between political elites and the masses through a data driven approach in order to explain the lack of popular support for President Bachelet and the conflicts within the government coalition.

The papers by Indira Palacios and Silvia Borzutzky will focus on education and pensions and will discuss the powerful student and “No+AFPs” movements that have been at the forefront of recent Chilean politics and have led to reforms, or demands for reform in these two critical areas. These movements have no only highlighted the problems in these areas, but also created perceptions of ineffectiveness and dissatisfaction with the government. Lastly, the paper by Aldo Madariaga will focus on the very critical environmental and sustainability issues affecting the country and President Bachelet’s approaches to the problem.

Sub Track

• Politics and Public Policy

Session Organizer

• Silvia Borzutzky, Carnegie Mellon University

Chair

• Gregory Weeks, University of North Carolina/Charlotte

Individual Presentations

• Consensus vs Conflict: Comparing the Policy-Making Style of Michelle Bachelet’s First and Second Administration - Gregory Weeks, University of North Carolina/Charlotte

• Content or Process: Citizens, Elites and Democracy in Chile - Peter M Siavelis, Wake Forest University

• Pension Reform and the No+AFPs Movement: Comparing Pension Reform During the First and Second Bachelet Administration - Silvia Borzutzky, Carnegie Mellon University

• The 2011 Student Protests and Bachelet’s Second Government - Indira Palacios-Valladares, Missouri State University; Gabriel A Ondetti, Missouri State University

• Bachelet and the Environment: The Ray of Hope in a Lackluster Government - Aldo Ramiro Madariaga Espinoza, Instituto de Políticas Públicas (IPP), Universidad Diego Portales

Discussant

• Kirsten Sehnbruch, Universidad Diego Portales