Tendencias electorales de los grupos indígenas en Chile

Abstract

We relate the votes for the main political coalitions' in Chile with the percentage of indigenous population. We conclude that there is a positive relationship between concentration of indigenous population and votes for right-wing candidates. However, the interpretations of this pattern are differentiated by including territory as an explanatory variable. Thus, in the first region, which is made up of a predominantly Aymara population and a larger percentage of indigenous communities, right-wing candidates tend to obtain more votes. In the ninth region, there is no significant relationship between the percentage of Mapuche population and votes for right-wing candidates. We tested a series of statistical models that confirm such statements with historical evidence and interviews with key informants. We suggest that electoral differences between Aymara and Mapuche populations are due to their dissimilar socio-political structure, with the former being historically more vertical, and the latter more decentralized. © EURE.