Taking the military government led by General Augusto Pinochet (1973-90) as the immediate background for an understanding of political parties in Chile's current politics, this article pursues three related goals. First, it identifies the most important elements of continuity and change between the pre- and post-Pinochet periods, drawing attention to positive elements, such as the tripartite division of the party system, the institutionalized nature of parties, and the reduction of ideological polarization, but also to negative elements, such as the increased distance between parties and societal interests, the weakness of social actors, the unelected nature of a significant number of senators and the skewed electoral law. Second, it explains why certain elements of Chile's parties and party system have changed while others have not. Third, it spells out the significance of these elements of continuity and change in terms of their impact on the extent to which parties are representative of societal interests and the nature of competition that characterizes the party system.
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