Can the deliberate manipulation of electoral rules help achieve political moderation and stability? An unusual electoral system in Chile provides a dramatic, albeit controversial, instance of political engineering. The binominal system, promulgated by the outgoing Pinochet government, mandates two-member districts for the upper and lower legislative chambers. Binominal electoral rules occupy a middle ground between majoritarian and PR systems. In Chile, the binominal system has provided incentives to form broad alliances, and has encouraged centripetal political competition, without generating extreme disproportionality between votes and seats. Using Lijphart's index, disproportionality was 5.80 in 1989 and 5.75 in 1993—higher than most PR systems, but lower than most plurality systems.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Allamand vs. Fra-Fra. (1993, May 31-June 6). Hoy, 828, 11.
2.
Arrate, J. (1989). Pasión y razón del socialismo chileno. Santiago, Chile: Ediciones del Ornitorrinco.
3.
Arriagada, G. (1986). Chile: Sistema político futuro. Santiago, Chile: Editorial Aconcagua.
4.
Auth, J. (1994, Autumn). Elecciones presidenciales y parlamentarias de 1993. Estudios Públicos, 54, 339-361.
5.
Blais, A. , & Dion, S. (1990). Electoral systems and the consolidation of new democracies. In D. Ethier (Ed.), Democratic transition and consolidation in Southern Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia (pp. 250-268). London: Macmillan.
6.
Campbell, B. A. (1976, January). On the prospects of polarization in the French electorate. Comparative Politics, 8, 272-290.
7.
Caviedes, C. N. (1991). Elections in Chile: The road toward redemocratization. Boulder, CO: Lynne Reinner.
8.
Coppedge, M. (1992, September). (De)institutionalization of Latin American party systems. Paper presented at the XVII International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, Los Angeles, CA.
9.
Correa, G. (1993, June 21-27). Interview. Hoy, 831, 20-23.
10.
Cox, G. (1990). Centripetal and centrifugal incentives in electoral systems. American Journal of Political Science, 34, 903-935.
11.
Cuadra, F. J. (1994, Autumn). Claves del proceso político chileno... Estudios Públicos, 54, 363-378.
12.
Dix, R. H. (1989). Cleavage structures and party systems in Latin America. Comparative Politics, 22, 23-37.
13.
Ejercicios de aglutamiento . (1994, July 25-31). Hoy, 888, 17-18.
14.
El impacto de la elección . (1993, December 13-26). APSI, 465, 6-13.
15.
El viejo cuento con cara nueva . (1991, December 2-8). Hoy, 750, 14-15.
16.
Fernández, S. (1991, August 12-18). Interview. Hoy, 734, 16-17.
17.
Fontaine Talavera, A. (1992). Sobre el pecado original de la transformación capitalista chilena. In B. B. Levine (Ed.), El desafío neoliberal (pp. 101-104). Santafé de Bogotá, Colombia: Grupo Editorial Norma.
18.
Foxley, A. (1988). Chile y su futuro: Un país posible. Santiago, Chile: CIEPLAN.
19.
Gamarra, E. A. (1994). Crafting political support for stabilization. In W. C. Smith, C. H. Acuña, & E. A. Gamarra (Eds.), Democracy, markets and structural reform in Latin America (pp. 105-128). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
20.
Geddes, B. (1994). Politician's dilemma: Building state capacity in Latin America. Berkeley: University of California Press.
21.
Hormazábal, R. (1994, January 24-February 6). Interview. APSI, 468, 15-17.
22.
Huneeus, C. (1987). Los chilenos y la política, Cambio y continuidad en el autoritarismo. Santiago, Chile: Salesianos.
23.
La amenaza bipolar . (1993, February 15-21). Hoy, 813, 12-14.
24.
La batalla de las listas . (1993, April 5-11). Hoy, 820, 12-15.
25.
La derecha con la sombra de Frei . (1993, November 29-December 5). Hoy, 854, 8-10.
26.
Lagos, R. (1989, November 27). Interview. Cauce, pp. 5-9.
27.
La oposición de izquierda viene . (1993, February 15-21). Hoy, 813, 6-8.
28.
Lechner, N. (Ed.). (1985). Partidos y democracia. Santiago, Chile: FLACSO.
29.
Lijphart, A. (1984). Democracies patterns of majoritarian and consensus government in twenty-one countries. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
30.
Lijphart, A. (1994). Electoral systems and party systems: A study of twenty-seven democracies 1945-1990. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
31.
Linz, J. (1990). The perils of presidentialism. Journal of Democracy, 1, 51-69.
32.
Loosemore, J. , & Hanby, V. J. (1971). The theoretical limits of maximum distortion: Some analytic expressions for electoral systems. British Journal of Political Science, 1, 467-477.
33.
Los hijos de la Unión . (1993, July 12-18). Hoy, 834, 12-14.
34.
Los ojos en el sistema electoral . (1992, February 3-16). Análisis, 409, 9.
35.
Maira, L. (1993a, May 10-16). Ordenar bien los principios. Hoy, 825, 15.
36.
Maira, L. (1993b, August 2-8). Democracia o partidocracia?Hoy, 837, 15.
37.
Mainwaring, S. (1993). Presidentialism, multipartism, and democracy: The difficult combination. Comparative Political Studies, 26, 198-227.
38.
Martínez, G. (1993, May 31-June 6). Interview. Hoy, 828, 24-28.
39.
PC y Parlamentarias . (1993, June 7-13). Hoy, 829, 14-16.
40.
Pinochet, A. (1983). Política, politiquería, y demagogia. Santiago, Chile: Editorial Renacimiento.
41.
Prothro, J. W. , & Chaparro, P. E. (1974). Public opinion and the movement of the Chilean government to the Left, 1952-72. Journal of Politics, 36, 2-34.
42.
Proyecto de Ley Electoral. (1988, August 10). Submitted to Junta de Gobierno, Santiago, Chile.
43.
Rae, D. (1971). The political consequences of electoral laws. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
44.
Romero, A. (1994). Decadencia y crisis de la democracia. Caracas: Editorial Panapo.
45.
Sartori, G. (1976). Parties and party systems: A framework for analysis. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
46.
Shugart, M. S. , & Carey, J. M. (1992). Presidents and assemblies: Constitutional design and electoral dynamics. New York: Cambridge University Press.
47.
Siavelis, P. (1993, Winter). Nuevos argumentos y viejos supuestos: Simulaciones de sistemas electorales alternativos para las elecciones parlamentarias chilenas. Estudios Públicos, 51, 229-267.
48.
Sigmund, P. (1977). The overthrow of Allende and the politics of Chile, 1964-1976. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.
49.
Stepan, A. , & Skach, C. (1993). Constitutional frameworks and democratic consolidation. World Politics, 46, 1-22.
50.
Taagepera, R. , & Shugart, M. S. (1989). Seats and votes: The effects and determinants of electoral systems. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
51.
Tagle, A. (1993, Winter). Comentario. Estudios Públicos, 51, 325-330.
52.
Tironi, E. (1986). El liberalismo real. Santiago, Chile: Ediciones SUR.
53.
Valenzuela, A. (1993). Latin America: Presidentialism in crisis. Journal of Democracy, 4, 3-16.
54.
Valenzuela, J. S. (1992). Democratic consolidation in post-transitional settings: Notion, process, and facilitating conditions. In S. Mainwaring, G. O'Donnell, & J. S. Valenzuela (Eds.), Democratic consolidation: The new South American democracies in comparative perspective (pp. 57-104). Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.
55.
Vodanovic, H. (1991, May 26). Interview. El Mercurio, p. D8.
56.
Wilson, F. L. (1980). Sources of party transformation: The case of France. In P. H. Merkl (Ed.), Western party systems: Trends and prospects (pp. 526-551). New York: Free Press.
