ABSTRACT
The left-wing faction of the former Democratic party emerged the big loser, holding only five of its former fourteen seats in Congress. The Democratic party recovered in Santiago's First District and in the province of Concepcion with the influence of some local labor leaders who were party members while the Agrarians continued to be strong among the landowners of the province of Cautín. The alignment of forces after the congressional elections of 1961 shows that an important turning point in Chilean politics had been reached, the prelude to the strong polarization that would sweep the country from the mid-1960s until 1973. More than a frontal encounter of reactionary and Marxist forces, these years of polarization witnessed antagonism between reformism and revolutionary change. For the congressional elections of 1965 the opposition or the Christian Democratic government had developed few constructive points with which to attract the electorate. Developments in the sphere of congressional politics were most unfavorable for the Christian Democracy.
