Expert Knowledge in the Debate on the New Constitution in Chile: Reticular Aanalysis of the Presence of Think Tanks in the Media

Abstract

Democratic societies currently support many of their political decisions with expert knowledge and, on several occasions, this is elaborated from Think Tanks (TT). Although the political challenges that followed the social outbreak have implied the questioning of expert knowledge. The constituent process has revitalized its public legitimacy due to the demand for technical knowledge and social account that guide public debate. Within this framework, Think Tank (TT) have concentrated high levels of centrality in the debates of the constituent process, either through the direct presence of the constituents from these centers or through systematic intervention in the media. This paper analyzes the close relationship between TT and the media. Through the tracking of the interventions of representatives associated with TT in the media and through the analysis of social networks. The behavior of this ecosystem is mapped, showing diversity of levels and prominence of actors (individuals and TT). Moreover, the main centralities, densities and intermediations in these interactions depend on the type of media and show that there is diversity in the consumption of expert knowledge in this ecosystem. Finally, we reveal how these representatives were distributing content that configured successful frames to guide the debate on the Chilean New Constitution.