The political framework of Chile

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders: President: Gabriel BORIC (since 11 March 2022). The president is both chief of state and head of government.
Next Election Dates: General elections (National Congress and President): November 2025
Current Political Context: Chile will hold general elections on 16 November 2025, with a potential run-off on 14 December, to elect a new president and renew the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The new officials will take office on 11 March 2026. Incumbent President Gabriel Boric, from the left-wing Apruebo Dignidad party, cannot seek re-election due to constitutional limits on consecutive terms. The government's declining popularity—32% in October 2024—makes it unlikely for the ruling party to secure a successor. While Boric’s coalition avoided a significant defeat, the moderate right made gains in the October 2024 municipal and regional elections. The centre-right Chile Vamos coalition increased its number of city halls, boosting Evelyn Matthei’s profile as a leading presidential contender.
The failure to rewrite the constitution, following parliamentary rejections in September 2022 and December 2023, weakened Boric’s administration. Despite initial successes like raising the minimum wage, reducing the workweek to 40 hours, and increasing mining royalties, the government has struggled to pass reforms in a fragmented legislature, requiring compromises that diluted its proposals.
Main Political Parties: After the 2021 general elections, a ruling coalition was formed, made up of the member parties of the two coalitions that supported Boric's candidacy: Apruebo Dignidad and Democratic Socialism.
Government Alliance is a left coalition currently ruling, including:
- Broad Front (Frente Amplio): formed as a result of the merger of left-wing political parties such as Social Convergence, Democratic Revolution, and Comunes
- Socialist Party (Partido Socialista de Chile): centre-left, social democratic, progressist
- Communist Party of Chile (Partido Comunista de Chile): left-wing, communist, Marxist–Leninist
- Party for Democracy (Partido por la Democracia): centre-left, traditions of democratic socialism and liberal progressiveness
- Liberal Party of Chile (Partido Liberal de Chile): social-liberal
- Radical Party of Chile (Partido Radical de Chile): radical, social-liberal
- Humanist Action (Partido Humanista): left-wing, libertarian socialist, environmentalist
- Social Green Regionalist Federation (Federación Regionalista Verde Social): centre-left to left-wing, green politics, sustainability

The main opposition block is Chile Vamos, a centre-right to right-wing political coalition of three political parties:
- National Renewal (RN): centre-right, conservative
- Independent Democratic Union (UDI): right-wing, conservative, liberal, Catholic
- Political Evolution (Evópoli): centre-right, liberal, conservative
Other opposition parties include:
- Christian Social Party (PSC): religious and social conservatism
- Democrats (Democratas): centre
- Republican Party (Partido Republicano; PLR): is a right-wing populist and conservative.
Executive Power: The President is both the Chief of State and Head of Government, and holds the executive power. The President appoints the Cabinet and has the authority to remove the Commanders-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. He or She is elected by popular vote for a single four-year term and is not eligible for a consecutive re-election.
Legislative Power: The legislature is bicameral. The Parliament (or National Congress) consists of a Senate (the upper house) with its 50 members elected by popular vote to serve eight-year terms (with half of the membership elected alternatively every four years), and the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house) with its 155 members elected by popular vote to serve for four years. Elections follow the Hondt method (proportional representation). The citizens of Chile enjoy considerable political rights.

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

The world rankings, published annually, measures violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position are assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire incorporating the main criteria (44 in total) to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. This questionnaire was sent to partner organisations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

World Rank:: 54/180

Indicator of Political Freedom

Definition

Definition:

The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Ranking:: Free
Political Freedom:: 1/7

Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House

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