Over the past three decades, Chile has stood out among Latin American countries for its solid record in economic development and state efficiency. Following the return to democracy in 1990 after the Pinochet dictatorship, Chile dramatically reduced income poverty—from 59 per cent of the population in 1990 to just 6 per cent in 2022—increased life expectancy to 81.5 years by 2025 (comparable to Germany and the United Kingdom), and achieved the region’s highest Human Development Index. Inequality, while lower than before (the current Gini coefficient is 0.43), remains high compared to European standards.
Most notably, the country achieved this while maintaining a relatively low level of debt: 42.8 per cent of GDP versus 110.5 per cent on average in OECD economies. At the same time, Chile has consistently performed well on controlling corruption. International indices place it in a different league from most of Latin America—with the notable exception of Uruguay—and even ahead of some developed countries.
Despite these achievements, citizens’ trust in the state has plummeted in recent years. Surveys show record-low confidence in political institutions and the justice system, while perception of corruption is rising. Worryingly, support for democracy itself has also declined. In this context, Chile will elect its next president in just a few days. Leading the polls is far-right Republican candidate José Antonio Kast, who has built his campaign around a narrative of state inefficiency and proposes sweeping austerity measures.
From ambitious reforms to political deadlock
Over the past three decades, Chile has made major advances in adapting its public institutions to contemporary challenges. These include a complete overhaul of the criminal justice system, replacing the outdated inquisitorial model with a modern oral process; the establishment of universal minimal health guarantees; the creation of new environmental institutions; a universal pension for the elderly; and the financing of free higher education for a large share of young people. The result has been a gradual transition toward a system with a more balanced role for the state. While many original features from reforms under the dictatorship remain—particularly in health and pensions—state-backed social protection mechanisms have grown significantly.
Significant progress has also been made in the digitalisation of public administration. Since the early 2000s, an increasing number of administrative procedures have shifted from paper-based processes to digital platforms, simplifying interactions between citizens and the state. Notable developments include “Chile Atiende,” a portal that centralises access to a wide range of public services, and “Clave Única,” a government-backed digital identity that enables secure access to online transactions. The expansion of these tools has been made possible by the country’s high penetration of information technologies—93 per cent of households now have an internet connection.
Successive governments also enacted key anti-corruption reforms that reshaped the Chilean state. These included an ambitious Transparency Law granting citizens access to public information, a competitive public procurement system, a pioneering lobbying law, and a merit-based recruitment process for senior public managers.
Interestingly, reforms often followed major corruption scandals that opened brief windows of opportunity for change. One notable episode came after a series of illegal political financing and influence-peddling cases triggered a political crisis in 2014. President Michelle Bachelet responded by appointing an independent Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission comprising 16 experts and chaired by one of us. Its comprehensive report proposed an ambitious reform agenda. With the support of civil society—notably the Anticorruption Observatory project by Espacio Público and Ciudadanía Inteligente—the media, and some key political champions, significant legal reforms were passed. Important advances were made in party and campaign financing, conflict-of-interest prevention, and the empowerment of state regulators.
Paradoxically, some of the reforms—by exposing long-hidden irregularities—initially increased citizens’ perception of corruption. The reform that imposed term limits on the re-election of mayors, for instance, led to a renewal of local leadership that revealed previously concealed misconduct in municipalities.
More recent corruption cases have further eroded trust. These include irregular transfers from national and regional governments to politically connected NGOs and influence-peddling scandals involving members of the Supreme Court. Yet, in contrast with past cases, the more recent ones have not sparked significant reform—at least so far. Amid growing political polarisation and a political system prone to deadlock, Congress has been unable to pass legislation to address long-standing institutional weaknesses. Integrity gaps remain at the level of local and regional governments, and critical reforms for tackling corruption amid the irruption of organised crime—such as establishing a beneficial ownership registry and improving transparency in judicial appointments—are still pending.
A country turning far right?
Chile has been no stranger to the global rise of populism. Far-right parties have gained ground, fuelled by political dissatisfaction after two failed constitutional processes and concerns over corruption. The country has also witnessed the emergence of new forms of violent and organised crime: homicides rose by nearly 50 per cent between 2016 and 2022. Although citizen security was absent from the current government’s original agenda, it quickly became a priority—albeit not without internal resistance. While crime levels first stabilised and then decreased by 20 per cent in recent years, public perceptions of insecurity remain alarmingly high, partly amplified by media coverage.
Populist leaders have exploited this climate, advancing a “law-and-order” narrative that links crime to rising immigration and promotes simplistic measures that risk aggravating the problem by ignoring evidence-based policies. Meanwhile, progressive sectors struggle to articulate a credible alternative narrative and policy agenda to address citizen security concerns without jeopardising human rights.
The two candidates who will compete in the December presidential runoff are Jeannette Jara, a communist politician representing a broad coalition of left and centre-left parties, and José Antonio Kast, a conservative far-right figure who already reached the ballotage in 2021. Although Jara won more votes than Kast in the first round (26.8 per cent versus 23.9 per cent), he remains the favourite, as he is expected to consolidate the support of the two right-wing candidates who failed to advance.
Progressive actors have recently attempted to address pressing challenges in state modernisation. Amid economic stagnation, Chile’s bureaucratic permit system has been identified as a bottleneck discouraging new investment projects. The current progressive government succeeded—though not without internal debate—in passing a major legal reform to streamline sectoral permitting without lowering regulatory standards (although a reform to the environmental protection system was not included in the bill). Its effectiveness, however, will depend heavily on the capacity of public servants to implement it.
This challenge is tied to one of the most long-overdue state reforms: a civil service modernisation, beyond high executives, that promotes merit-based careers and introduces effective performance-driven evaluations. While no administration has managed to advance this agenda, progressives might have a better chance, as public-sector unions—the main opponents of these reforms—are traditionally closer to left-wing parties. Any initiative in this direction, however, will require a combination of political negotiation skills and a firm conviction that improving the public service is essential to the state’s efficiency and legitimacy.
Kast, for his part, has launched a frontal attack on the state and its public servants—one of his closest advisers described them as “parasites” living off taxpayers’ money. He promises drastic cuts in public spending and the dismissal of all “politically appointed” civil servants. While it is true that public debt shows an increasing trend over the last two decades that should be arrested, Kast’s proposals raise serious concerns. They risk undermining essential social spending, threatening fiscal stability, and distracting from more effective reforms to curb corruption and improve state efficiency. Moreover, the aggressive tone of his campaign may further erode public trust in state institutions and democracy itself.
Ultimately, Chileans will have the final word, and no result is certain until all the votes are counted. A government led by Kast would likely challenge many of the achievements made in social protection while deepening political polarisation. We hope that the country’s hard-earned democratic culture and robust institutions will once again prove resilient in the years ahead.
This article is part of a series on global discussions about the state and government, produced in partnership with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.
