ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the ways in which the country's political forces dealt with an imposed institutional framework in a democratic context. It divide the analysis into three distinctive periods: 1984-2000, when actors 'played by the rules'; 2000-2005, when they decided to eliminate 'authoritarian enclaves'; and 2005-2010, when actors pushed for, and became more receptive to, democratic institutions. The chapter argues that gradualism and top-down bargaining processes, the two main features of this political process, embody the essence of the Concertacion de Partidos por la Democracia (CPD)'s political strategy. It suggests that this process of reform permitted a moderate but relevant change in power constellations within the Chilean political system. The transition to democracy involved two interconnected processes: a formal transfer of power from the military regime to a democratically elected government, and the modification of essential features of the constitution of the military regime to establish a free and open political system.
