Progress and deficits in the decentralization process with a regional focus in Chile

Abstract

Chile is currently immersed in an unprecedented process of decentralization of the State, since historically its political context has been characterized by a predominantly centralist culture. In the field of political decentralization, the country exhibits a deficit compared to modern democracies, where the highest executive authorities of subnational governments are appointed by the central government. The future democratic election of regional governors in 2021 corresponds to an important change in all this established dynamic.

This work is aimed at studying political decentralization, reviewing the development that the reforms have had in Chile since 2014, taking as a reference the final report of the Presidential Advisory Commission for Decentralization and Regional Development, which was composed of a group plural and a participatory methodology that allowed the systematization of the proposals and the guidelines in post of decentralization in the country and from that, review the impact of the reforms on the progress of the regions. Thus, in the discussion and conclusion of the research, a descriptive analysis is carried out, through a balance of official documents, surveys, articles and books, of the progress and current challenges of Chilean political decentralization.