ABSTRACT
Chile's road to socialism, points out the author, was not a linear one. In the last twenty years political parties of an astonishingly wide range of opinions participated in the administration of the country, and their successes and failures have been clearly reflected in the shifting preferences of the voting population. Political ideas did not always receive nationwide acceptance; disobedience, dissent, and confrontation with the government or party officials in Santiago were frequent; and the struggle between centralism and provincial aspirations was a continuing fact of Chilean political life. Dr. Caviedes focuses clearly on the main protagonists of Chilean politics–the politicians and the voters–and interprets the changing fortunes of the different political parties, both historically and within the context of existing local social, political, and economic conditions. He provides a province-by-province analysis of twenty presidential and congressional elections, demonstrating the variegated character of the voters throughout the country and exploring as well the relevant links with the international political scene.
