Los movimientos regionalistas en Chile y la descentralización cooptada del bloque en el poder

Abstract

This article studies the main activities of the anti-centralist and anti-neo-liberal regionalist movements in Chile from 2011, and the resistance of the bloc holding political power to the promotion of reforms aimed at the distribution of powers, increases in taxation, and the establishment of norms of self-government. The investigation refers to the co-optation of the agenda of regionalist movements by the second national government of Michelle Bachelet. The first section describes the socio-political context in Chile, characterised by an increase in social conflict starting in 2011, the rise of the Nueva Mayoría as a ruling coalition accompanied by reformist rhetoric, and the crisis of political legitimacy in Chile. The second section examines regional conflicts and the strategy of the governing bloc to deal with them. Finally, the article provides a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the transition (the strategy of the governing bloc), and the co-opting of the agendas of the regionalist movements to the governmental agenda, considering as an intermediate stage the work of the Comisión Asesora Presidencial en Descentralización y Desarrollo Regional and the processes of citizens’ participation that were developed.