Description
The uprising in Chile (2019) was the largest protests in the country during this century. The response of the government to it was to create the Constitutional Convention, mandated to propose a new Constitution. Even when the protests were anti-establishment, the response of the government was to design a new temporary political institution, and consequently, more elections. The question here is whether the uprising generated a change in institutional politics beyond the Convention, especially on the circulation of political elite.
To answer this, I focus on the Chamber of Deputies as a permanent institution, comparing its composition before and after the uprising, and adding the Convention to the comparison. Based on the literature and public information, I generate a database including descriptive, political, and elite-related variables.
The results show some changes in political variables, especially about affiliation and roles within the party: there is an increase of independent Deputies and Deputies with no formal role in a political party. Additionally, there is an increase of female representatives. However, some traditional characteristics of the political elite remain similar, such as having a university degree, relatives in politics, or membership to certain civil society organisations.
The results point to some circulation on the Chilean political elite, connected to the anti-establishment feeling of the protests and a general rejection towards parties. But other than that, the characteristics of the political elite remain unaffected by the uprising. These findings open the door to investigations about the recruitment process of political parties after massive mobilisations.
