School markets in chile and the emergence of the new public management: The fabric of policies between a neoliberal dictatorship regime and center-left democratic governments (1979-2009)

Abstract

This paper examines the different phases in which school markets and New public management have been built in Chile, from 1979 to 2009. The process is gradually designed to move from a “wild market” to a performative market arbitrated by the state. The governance scheme combines programmatic and curricular support, together with an extensive accountability system. Emerging from an agreement between right and center-left coalitions, NPM is understood as a safeguard against the deregulation and “failures” of the educational market. These changes, however, actually reaffirm the maintenance and enhancement of the market schema through new technologies of control, differentiation and competition. Based on the study of official speeches and documents of this historical period, the article provides an analysis of the policies that create the model and the narratives that give it sustenance.