This document provides an overview of Chile's government system. It describes Chile as a representative democratic republic with an elected president and bicameral legislature. The president acts as both head of state and head of government, appointing ministers. The legislature consists of a lower Chamber of Deputies and upper Senate. Elections for president and deputies use proportional representation systems. The judiciary and constitutional framework are also summarized.

1. March 25,
2020
The Government System of Chile
theweeklyrambler.com/the-government-system-of-chile/
Chile is a long, narrow strip of land in
the South American continent with a
long coastline along the Pacific Ocean
and also bordering three other
countries which are Peru, Bolivia and
Argentina. The capital city, Santiago, is
located in the country’s Central Valley.
The land that is now Chile was
inhabited by a number of indigenous
peoples and cultures such as the Inca
Empire and the Mapuche. In the mid-
16th Century the Spanish Empire
conquered Inca rule in the north and
centre and colonized the area but was
unable to conquer the Mapuche in the
South-Central areas, facing continued
insurrection and resistance from them
and other native groups, the colony
also was troubled by Spain’s colonial
enemies such as the Dutch and
British. The colony ended up
becoming one of Spain’s most
militarized possessions.
Due to events in Europe in 1808
leading to Napoleon’s brother Joseph
being crowned as the Spanish King led
to a drive for independence in the
Chile colony. A junta was formed in
Chile on 18th September 1810 in
support of the deposed King
Ferdinand VII and led to the colony
declaring autonomy. This further
spurred a push for full independence.
Jose Miguel Correra and his two brothers formed a movement for total independence in
the colony. Soon Spain would try and re-impose rule during a period known as the
Reconquista leading to a prolonged struggle as well as infighting between Carrera and
1/10

2. Bernardo O’Higgins over leading the fight for independence, leading to Correra to go into
exile and in his attempt to return to Chile to fight against O’Higgin’s he would be
captured and imprisoned in Argentina and eventually executed.
O’Higgins and his anti-Carrera cohort Jose de San Martin, who was the hero of the
Argentine war for Independence, crossed over the Andes into Chile with an army and
defeated the royalists and on 12th February 1818 Chile would proclaim an independent
republic. Immigration, occupation and treaties were used to consolidate land in the
South a part of Chile and the result of the War of the Pacific led to Chile taking land from
Bolivia and Peru, expanding the country northward.
From then there was a civil war and several military coups that shaped the country,
including the coup on 11th September 1973 that started the Pinochet military
dictatorship lasting for 16-years which led to 1,000s either being missing or dead and a
new constitution being adopted in 1981. Due to economic collapse, continued resistance
and the result of a referendum that denied the dictator another 8-year-term in office the
country eventually returned to a democratic republic and basically what it is till this day.
The National Language in Chile is Spanish and the largest religion is Roman Catholic. The
country’s currency is the Peso since 1975. The country’s population is estimated to reach
18,186,770 by July 2020 according to the CIA World Factbook.
Government Type
Chile’s Coat of Arms
2/10

3. Chile is a representative democratic presidential republic which means it has a President
as both Head of State and Head of Government. The parliament has two chambers, the
lower chamber which is the Chamber of Deputies and the upper chamber which is the
Senate, making up the legislative section of government. Multiple parties are allowed.
Executive Government
La Moneda Palace – Seat of the President. Photo byMiguel Hernandez from Flickr. License.
The executive Government is led by the democratically elected President as Head of
Government. The President as Head of State also represents the country abroad in
diplomatic and foreign affairs. The President has a number of executive powers at his
disposal.
The President must obtain consent from the Senate (upper chamber of parliament) to
leave the country for longer than thirty days. The order of precedence for the President
of the Nation is the President of the Senate being interim of the President of the Nation
cannot take his place, if the Senate President cannot then it will be the President of the
Chamber of Deputies and if that President cannot then it will be the President of the
Supreme Court, the interim leader will have the title of Vice-President. This can happen
for example if a President-elect is halted from taking his position for whatever reason, if
it is permanent then fresh elections will be called.
But if the President of the Nation is temporarily unable to perform duties then a titular
minister in accordance with the order of legal precedence will be given interim and be
temporary Vice-President of the Nation, if no Ministers are able to take over then the
order of precedence will lead to the Presidents of Parliament and the President of the
3/10

4. Supreme Court again. If the absence becomes permanent and a vacancy happens, fresh
elections will be called if the presidential term still has two or more years left, otherwise
if less than two-years left a Plenary Congress will form and elect a President by absolute
majority of Deputies and Senators.
The President’s jobs and powers include participation in the making of laws and to
assent and promulgate them. Can demand if needed an extraordinary session of
congress. Convokes referendums. Can declare constitutional exceptions for exceptional
and emergency powers during times of crises under guidelines and rules set out in the
constitution and with consent from parliament and further extensions granted by them.
Can appoint and dismiss at will members of Government including Ministers of State,
undersecretaries, intendants and Governors. Along with agreement from the Senate, the
President appoints the Comptroller General of the Republic.
The Ministers of State are the direct and immediate collaborators of the President in
government and administration of the state, the law determines number and
organisation of ministers. Minister’s must have citizenship of Chile, be at least 21-years
or older and meet the general requirements for entry into Public Administration.
Regulations and decrees by the President require the counter-signature of the relevant
minister to have affect. The ministers are responsible for the acts they signed and jointly
responsible for those subscribed or agreed to with other Ministers.
Ministers can attend sessions of the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate and can take
part in their debate but does not have the right to vote.
The President sees to the collection of public revenue and decrees their investment in
accordance with the law. During time of emergency the President can invest public
revenue payments not authorized by law as long as the President gets a signature from
all Ministers of State.
In fulfilling the President’s role in diplomatic and foreign affairs, appointing ambassadors
and diplomatic ministers and representatives to international organisms. The President
conducts political relations with foreign powers and international organisms and carries
out negotiations. He also concludes, signs and ratifies the treaties, treaties must be
submitted to Congress for approval.
The President can appoint and remove the Commanders-in-Chief of the Army, Navy and
Air Force and the General Director of the Carabineros. Provides for appointments,
promotions and retirement of the Officials of the Armed Forces and of the Carabineros.
Can command the air, sea and land forces as well as organize and deploy them in
accordance with the necessities of national security. Assumes, in the case of war, the
supreme command of the country’s armed forces. Can declare war with previous
authorization by law and from Parliament, with the requirement to place on record that
the President has heard the Council of National Security.
4/10

5. Chile’s Congress Building. Photo byJkstrauss from
Wikimedia. License.
Appoints the magistrates and judicial prosecutors of the Courts of Appeal and the career
judges, on the proposal of the Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal, respectively. And
finally appoints magistrates and judicial attorneys of the Supreme Court and the
National Attorney, on the proposal of the Supreme Court as well as with agreement from
the Senate.
The President is charged with overseeing the ministerial conduct of the judges and other
employees of the Judicial Power including requesting the Supreme Court, when needed,
to declare misconduct, or request the public ministry to demand disciplinary measures
from the competent tribunal.
The President can grant individual pardons from lawful punishment in the cases and
forms that the law determines. Functionaries accused by the Chamber of Deputies and
condemned by the Senate cannot be pardoned by the President but only by Congress.
The Constitutional Tribunal is made up of 10 members, four elected by congress, two of
which are proposed by the Chamber of Deputies and two appointed by the Senate, the
Senate also decides on the two proposed by the Deputies, the appointments and
proposals are decided by a two-thirds vote. Three are appointed by the President and
the final three are elected by the Supreme Court. Members serve 9-years and are
renewed in threes.
Legislative Government
The legislative government is made
up of an upper and lower chamber
known colloquially as the National
Congress. The upper chamber is
called the Senate while the lower
chamber is called the House of
Deputies. Its main purpose is for
the formation of laws and debating
on them as well as amending them
and either passing or rejecting
such legislation, with both
chambers required to come to a
full agreement on all legislation for
it to pass to the President for
promulgation. Both chambers can
introduce legislation, but only the Chamber of Deputies can introduce money bills and
only the Senate can introduce bills concerning amnesty and general pardons. There are
further limiting rules on how members can change/affect money bills and budgets.
A rejected bill cannot return for 1-year but the President can choose to introduce the bill
(if it is of his initiative) to the other Chamber and if passed by them with at least a two-
third vote it can only be rejected by the other Chamber in a two-third vote.
5/10

6. Bills rejected in a house that is revising it (as it originated in the other house that passed
it) the rejected bill will be looked at by a Mixed Commission of senators and deputies in
an attempt to come to an agreement on the bill. If this commission fails the President
can request the originating chamber to pass the bill again but with at least a two-third
vote, of which the revising chamber will need a vote of two-thirds to reject it again.
When congress passes a bill, it goes on to the President of the Nation for promulgation,
but he can choose to return it to the chamber of origin within thirty days if he
disapproves of it, the returned bill will include the appropriate observations. If congress
members pass the bill unchanged again by a two-third vote the President must
promulgate it. If the President makes no action on a bill passed within 30 days it will
automatically be considered approved and promulgated.
The Chamber of Deputies, the lower chamber, currently has 155 elected members.
Exclusive jobs/powers of the Chamber of Deputies include controlling acts of
government, such as members adopting agreements or suggesting observations, in
response the President must give a response through the corresponding Minister of
State within thirty days. Any Deputy, along with one-third of the vote of other deputies
can request specific records from the government.
With a petition of at least one-third of deputies a Minister of State can be summoned to
formulate questions in response to their exercise of responsibilities. A single Minister
cannot be summoned more than three times in a calendar year unless there is prior
agreement with an absolute majority of members.
A petition of at least one-fifth of deputies can request a special investigatory commission
which can issue obligatory summons and requests for information on a vote of one-third
of their members. Again, Ministers of State cannot be summoned more than three times
to an investigatory commission without prior agreement of the absolute majority of
members.
Finally the House of Deputies can declare if there is cause or not for accusations made
by not less than ten and no more than twenty of its members against either the
President of the Nation, Ministers of State, magistrates, Comptroller General of the
Republic, generals, admirals, intendents and Governors for things such as high treason,
embezzlement, abandonment of duties and so on. It can lead to suspensions and further
action; the Senate can choose to reverse these decisions though if it disagrees.
The Senate, the upper chamber, currently has 43 elected members which is meant to be
increased to 55 elected members in 2021 according to the CIA World Factbook.
Exclusive jobs/powers of the Senate include taking cognizance of the accusations
initiated by the Chamber of Deputies and will decide as a jury and will declare if the
accused is or is not guilty of what has been charged on them by the Deputies, decided by
a majority, unless it is the President where instead it is decided by a two-third vote.
6/10

7. If found guilty by the Senate the person is removed from their position/office and cannot
hold public function, whether public election or not, for five years.
Also decides if there is cause on judicial action against Ministers of State from individuals
on grounds of damages unjustly suffered by an act of said minister in the performance
of their position. Also takes cognizance on conflicts of competence between political or
administrative authorities and superior tribunals of justice.
Grants recovery of citizenship.
Give or deny consent to acts of the President in cases where the constitution or the law
requires. Grants approval for the President to leave the country for longer than thirty
days.
After the Constitutional Tribunal has been heard the Senate can declare the incapacity of
the President or President-elect due to physical or mental impediment and accepts or
rejects the President’s resignation.
And finally, votes by two-thirds to accept designation of ministers, judicial prosecutors of
the Supreme Court and of the National Attorney.
Congress as a whole, votes to approve or reject international treaties.
Electoral System
7/10

8. Photo by Carlos yo from Wikimedia. License.
8/10

9. Presidential elections happen every 4-years. Presidential Elections use a two-round
system where a candidate requires an absolute majority to win outright in the 1st round,
otherwise a 2nd round will be held between the two best performing candidates which is
won by simple majority.
Candidates for President must be a citizen of Chile, at least 35-years or older, possess
other requirements necessary to be a citizen with the right of suffrage. A single person
can serve for President for a single 4-year term before stepping aside but can run again
after 4-years.
Parliamentary elections are held every 4-years to elect all the members of the Chamber
of Deputies. Members are elected from multi-seat electoral districts using an Open List
Proportional Representation system allowing parties that reach a certain threshold of the
vote to have guaranteed representation that is proportional with the percentage of the
vote achieved.
Candidates for the Chamber of Deputies must be a citizen of Chile with the right of
suffrage, be at least 21-years or older, to have completed secondary education or
something equivalent, and to have residence in the region of the corresponding electoral
district they are running for and to have lived there for at least 2-years preceding the
election.
Half of the Senate is re-elected every 4-years (with elected members serving 8-year
terms). Members are elected from multi-seat senatorial circumscriptions that represent
each of the country’s 16 regions, each region has at least one senatorial circumscription
but some may have more than one senatorial circumscription for better representation.
Members are elected by an Open List Proportional Representation system just like
Deputies are in Electoral Districts.
Candidates for Senate only have one differing requirement than Deputy candidates
which are that they must be at least 35-years or older.
To vote one must be a citizen of Chile and at least 18-years-old, foreigners must wait 5-
years before they can vote. Voting is not mandatory. A person cannot vote if they have
been sentenced to afflictive punishment, if they have been declared insane, if a person is
being charged with a crime that deserves afflictive punishment or if the crime is terrorist
conduct or punished by the Constitutional Tribunal.
Sources
My source is from Chile’s 1980 constitution with amendments through to 2012 (on
constitute.org) and so it should be as accurate as possible but there is always the chance
I may have mis-interpreted some parts and as well as that the constitution can change
and so this may eventually become outdated, so cross-research is always important if
using this in a serious capacity.
9/10

10. CIA World Factbook for population, electoral process and constitutional amendment
process.
The constitution can be changed at the request of members of either chamber of
National Congress or by the President. Either three-fifth or two-third vote is required in
the National Congress to pass amendments depending on what is being amended and
then the President must give approval, the President can choose to hold a National
Referendum on it if the National Congress and President disagree over the amendment.
Next up is a big one – China’s government system!
Thank you for reading this post, if you have any queries please Email me, you can find
my Email in the Contacts & Community section. Please also follow The Weekly Rambler
on Twitter and Facebook which you can access through the buttons at the bottom of this
website. You can also use the social media buttons under each blogpost to share with
your family, friends and associates. You can also subscribe to Email notifications at the
right-side of this website to know whenever a new post goes up (you can easily
unsubscribe from this at any time through a button in each Email notification), or
alternatively you can use an RSS Feed Reader. Please also join my FB Group The Weekly
Ramblers Readers Group where readers can more easily talk with each other and also
with me whenever I am on, you can also find it in Community.
10/10