What Is The Nature Of The Import-Authoritarian Regime In Chile?

Bureaucratic-Authoritarian (BA) coined by Guillermo O’Donnell, in the mid-1970s to explain the nature of the authoritarian regimes that ruled the region from the 1960s to the 1980s. BA is normally ruled by a military junta instead of a caudillo that is military juntas rather than individual dictators. It is characterised by having people from bureaucratic careers in higher governmental positions, political and economic exclusion of the popular sector, depoliticalization and the increasing capacity of the state institutionalization of suppression of political dissidents and civil society groups by the military with the goal to transform the country into a modern capitalist society. O’Donnell (1988) argues that the role of BA is to purify society,
The second pre-1973 condition that led to the BA regime in Chile is that of the activation of the popular sector. Chile's working class first appeared in the second-half of the 19th century. At the beginning, most of the Chilean proletariat were from copper, coal, and silver mining industries. Ma (1999) states that from 1890 onward, industrial strikes and demonstrations became more frequent and more organized. With the formation of the Socialist Workers' Party in 1912, Chile's working class formally entered the political arena. Ma further argues that at about the same time, Chile's middle class was also activated. Additionally, in the mid-1930s, in the face of a growing Fascist movement in the country, Chile's working class and the middle class formed an alliance called the Popular Front, which won the 1938 presidential election. Under the rule of the Popular Front, the government increased its role in the economy through expanding state investment, protection of domestic industries, and social welfare. These measures benefited both the working class and the middle class (Roxborough 1977,
Once Pinochet took control, he and his regime worked to deactivate the popular sector. They did this through “murders, assignations, mass executions, and disappearances”. Immediately after the 1973 military coup, Pinochet used highly repressive measures to consolidate power. Sympathizers of Allende's government and other political enemies were arrested, tortured, or killed. The regime also created the National Intelligence Directorate to spy on people suspected of posing a threat to the government it National Intelligence Directorate was dissolved in 1977 under pressure from the international community and the Catholic church. The government began to revise laws in order to legalize its repression. With the promulgation of a new constitution in 1981, Pinochet was conferred with the largest discretionary powers without any kind of counterweight (Fruhling