ABSTRACT
This chapter analysis of the Chilean transition focuses both on elaborating an analytical framework to examine the different stages of the change and on clarifying basic conceptual issues regarding the use and abuse of the notions of “regime” and “state” in analyzing the transitional process. It discusses conceptual distinctions among the key components of the political system—state, regime, and government—and addresses elements of continuity and change in the different stages of the processes of transition. The chapter aims to apply the analytical framework to an analysis of the transition from the military to the electoral regime in Latin America with special emphasis on the Chilean case. In Chile, although police repression has lessened, torture of political arrestees is frequently reported and the essential rights of farm workers are still systematically denied. The greatest appeal of neoliberalism, in Chile and elsewhere, is in the conjunctural moment just prior to and just after its electoral triumph.
