Chile’s Draft Constitution

What is the background?

• In 2019, Chile saw protests triggered by certain issues:
  • Social inequality
  • High cost of living
  • Probity in governance
• At the core of the protests was the fact that the country’s constitution was no longer serving its purpose.
• The Chilean constitution was drafted under the military regime of General Augusto Pinochet, in 1980.
• It is noted for embodying the ‘Chicago School Economics’ i.e. market deregulation was encoded into the constitution and not just a policy choice. One of the striking elements of this feature is the privatization of water as a constitutional imperative.
• Over the decades, Chile has become one of the most unequal countries in the world.
• Conseque