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Chile is the freest economy in Latin America and the tenth in the world. Chileans exercise their political rights and civil liberties freely. The country’s pension reforms, tax policies, conditional cash transfer programs, and management of rents from natural resources are successful policies that other policymakers around the globe have observed and draw lessons from to advance policy changes in their own countries. Chile’s positive trajectory after Pinochet continues to be an example for reformers. The country’s recent elections provide a further example. Many have analyzed the election from the lenses of tycoons rising to power, or a new wave of center-right governments in Latin America. The election brought to power Sebastián Piñera’s Coalición por el Cambio by beating the incumbent Concertación. Coalición por el Cambio’s success offers another framework of analysis: platforms matter in elections.
The incumbent Concertación’s campaign focused on publicity rather than offering specific policy alternatives, while it weathered internal demands for renovation (or the lack thereof). In contrast, Coalición por el Cambio’s campaign offered concrete policy messages, along with a normal dose of publicity, and capitalized on the Concertación fatigue after 20 years governing Chile.
Piñera’s message was clear and backed with data. In order for Chile’s government to continue delivering to its citizens, Chile needs to grow, argued the Coalición por el Cambio. More specifically, Chile needs to grow on average 6% each year. The Coalición’s platform offered an integrated strategy to achieve growth through entrepreneurship and innovation, a combination that translates growth into better opportunities. The platform, rather than offering benefits to key sectors, promotes the idea of competition and same rules for all players. With this concrete message developed, supported by a number of experts, party members, and members of a well-known think-tank, Libertad y Desarrollo, the Coalición reached out not only to its base but expanded its electoral support.
Chileans know what to expect from Piñera and Coalición por el Cambio. Chile’s recent electoral experience highlights the need to strengthen and raise the level of electoral debate through concrete platforms with substantial economic content. Not only a candidate’s charisma or the brightness of political-marketing experts contribute to electoral success, as Chile’s example shows.
Published Date: February 12, 2010