The political parties ofChile are three clearly categorized, distinct, political groups: theleft-wing, thecenter and theright-wing. Before the1973 coup, these three political groups were moderately pluralistic and fragmented.
This distinction has existed since the end of the 19th century. Since then, the three groups have been made up of different parties. Each party has had some amount of power in the management of the State or has been represented in theNational Congress.
Political parties are recognized legally and formally byPolitical Constitution of the Republic of Chile of 1980 and by the Organic Constitutional Law of Political Parties of 1987 as organizations that participate in the legal political system and contribute to guiding public opinion.
This article listspolitical parties inChile. Chile has amulti-party system.
As of March 2025[update] there are 22 legally constituted political parties in Chile.[1]
| Party/Alliance | Abbr. | Est. | Position | International affiliation | Governors[2] | Senators[3] | Deputies[4] | Regional advisors[5] | Mayors[6] | Councilors | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Let's go Chile Chile Vamos | ChV | 2015 | Centre-right toright-wing | IDU | 4 / 16 | 20 / 50 | 36 / 155 | 96 / 302 | 66 / 345 | 835 / 2,240 | ||
 | National Renewal Renovación Nacional | RN | 1987 | Centre-right toright-wing | IDU,[7]CDI[8] | 2 / 16 | 9 / 50 | 16 / 155 | 55 / 302 | 38 / 345 | 444 / 2,240 | ||
.svg) | Independent Democratic Union Unión Demócrata Independiente | UDI | 1983 | Right-wing | IDU[7] | 2 / 16 | 9 / 50 | 16 / 155 | 37 / 302 | 22 / 345 | 353 / 2,240 | ||
 | Political Evolution Evolución Política | Evópoli | 2012 | Centre-right | LI,[9]RELIAL | 0 / 16 | 2 / 50 | 4 / 155 | 4 / 302 | 6 / 345 | 38 / 2,240 | ||
.svg) | Democratic Socialism Socialismo Democrático | SD | 2021 | Centre-left | None | 3 / 16 | 11 / 50 | 21 / 155 | 58 / 302 | 35 / 345 | 552 / 2,240 | ||
 | Socialist Party Partido Socialista de Chile | PS | 1933 | Centre-left | PA,SI,FSP, COPPPAL | 3 / 16 | 7 / 50 | 12 / 155 | 30 / 302 | 22 / 345 | 215 / 2,240 | ||
 | Party for Democracy Partido por la Democracia | PPD | 1987 | Centre-left | PA,SI, COPPPAL | 0 / 16 | 4 / 50 | 3 / 155 | 18 / 302 | 8 / 345 | 159 / 2,240 | ||
 | Radical Party[a] Partido Radical de Chile | PR | 1863 | Centre-left | PA,SI, COPPPAL | 0 / 16 | 0 / 50 | 3 / 155 | 9 / 302 | 5 / 345 | 155 / 2,240 | ||
 | Liberal Party[b] Partido Liberal de Chile | PL | 2013 | Centre-left | LI | 0 / 16 | 0 / 50 | 3 / 155 | 1 / 302 | 0 / 345 | 23 / 2,240 | ||
| Broad Front[c] Frente Amplio | FA | 2024 | Left-wing | None | 1 / 16 | 1 / 50 | 22 / 155 | 19 / 302 | 9 / 345 | 129 / 2,240 | |||
 | Christian Democratic Party Partido Demócrata Cristiano | PDC | 1957 | Centre to centre-left | CDI[8] | 0 / 16 | 3 / 50 | 4 / 155 | 29 / 302 | 23 / 345 | 162 / 2,240 | ||
 | Communist Party Partido Comunista de Chile | PCCh | 1922 | Left-wing tofar-left | FSP,CBP, IMCWP | 0 / 16 | 2 / 50 | 10 / 155 | 15 / 302 | 2 / 345 | 105 / 2,240 | ||
 | Democrats[d] Demócratas | D | 2022 | Centre to centre-right | None | 0 / 16 | 2 / 50 | 5 / 155 | 6 / 302 | 0 / 345 | 55 / 2,240 | ||
 | Christian Social Party Partido Social Cristiano | PSC | 2022 | Right-wing | None | 0 / 16 | 2 / 50 | 4 / 155 | 6 / 302 | 1 / 345 | 24 / 2,244 | ||
.svg) | Republican Party Partido Republicano de Chile | PLR | 2019 | Right-wing | None | 0 / 16 | 1 / 50 | 8 / 155 | 60 / 302 | 3 / 345 | 233 / 2,240 | ||
.png) | Social Green Regionalist Federation[e] Federación Regionalista Verde Social | FREVS | 2017 | Centre-left toleft-wing | None | 0 / 16 | 1 / 50 | 1 / 155 | 7 / 302 | 1 / 345 | 63 / 2,240 | ||
 | National Libertarian Party[f] Partido Nacional Libertario | PNL | 2024 | Right-wing | None | 0 / 16 | 0 / 50 | 6 / 155 | 0 / 302 | 0 / 345 | 0 / 2,244 | ||
 | Humanist Action[g] Acción Humanista | AH | 2020 | Left-wing | None | 0 / 16 | 0 / 43 | 2 / 155 | 1 / 302 | 1 / 345 | 3 / 2,240 | ||
 | Yellows for Chile[h] Amarillos por Chile | AxCh | 2022 | Centre-left tocentre-right | None | 0 / 16 | 0 / 50 | 1 / 155 | 1 / 302 | 0 / 345 | 15 / 2,244 | ||
| Party of the People Partido de la Gente | PDG | 2019 | Centre-right toright-wing | None | 0 / 16 | 0 / 50 | 0 / 155 | 3 / 302 | 0 / 345 | 23 / 2,244 | |||
.svg) | Humanist Party[i] Partido Humanista | PH | 1984 | Left-wing | HI,FSP | 0 / 16 | 0 / 50 | 0 / 155 | 1 / 302 | 0 / 345 | 16 / 2,244 | ||
.png) | Popular Green Alliance Party[j] Partido Alianza Verde Popular | PAVP | 2022 | Centre-left | None | 0 / 16 | 0 / 50 | 0 / 155 | 0 / 302 | 0 / 345 | 16 / 2,244 | ||
 | People's Party[k] Partido Popular | Popular | 2022 | Left-wing | None | 0 / 16 | 0 / 50 | 0 / 155 | 0 / 302 | 0 / 345 | 6 / 2,244 | ||
 | Equality Party[l] Partido Igualdad | IGUAL | 2009 | Left-wing tofar-left | FSP | 0 / 16 | 0 / 50 | 0 / 155 | 0 / 302 | 0 / 345 | 2 / 2,244 | ||
 | Revolutionary Workers Party[m] Partido de Trabajadores Revolucionarios | PTR | 1999 | Far-left | TF-FI | 0 / 16 | 0 / 50 | 0 / 155 | 0 / 302 | 0 / 345 | 0 / 2,244 | ||
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InChile, the first political groups were created during theIndependence of Chile: the Royalists and the Patriots. The Royalists wanted to maintain the status quo with theKing of Spain, while the Patriots wanted to gain a larger degree of freedom. In turn, the Patriots further split into the Moderates, who wanted a slow pace of reform, and the Radicals or Extremists, who favored a much faster pace. All of the early political groups were shy of advocating for full independence since it was unknown if the King would regain his power from Napoleon.
Once Chile gained independence, many political groupings emerged. They were based on various popular leaders during that time, instead of common political ideas. Two very strong political groupings were thePipolos (liberals) and thePelucónes (conservatives). Two minor parties, the O’Higginists and the Tobacconists, were often on the Pelucónes' side. AfterDiego Portales Palazuelos became the architect of the New Institution and theConstitution of 1833, the Pelucónes prevailed for thirty years (1831–1861).
From 1831 to 1861, the prevailing political system was one in which the Presidentco-opted a successor. This system greatly influenced the idea that power should be transferred between members of the ruling political faction. It was only the "Question of the Sacristan" (1856), which divided The Pelucónes, allowed for the rise of theLiberals to power in 1861.
The formal emergence of political parties in Chilean institutions occurred around the 1850s. Chileans began to challenge the President as the leading role in national political life through theNational Congress. In 1891, the disagreement was resolved after a Civil War, in favor of a parliamentary system.
Around that time, the rise of themiddle class would eventually lead to the creation of theRadical Party. Their campaign started in the 1850s, as a group defending the interests of the silver mine owners, but it would gradually shift its focus to the employees of the growing state bureaucracy. Soon afterwards, from the same branch of radicalism, theDemocratic Party appeared. It was a community that was born closer to the working class segment of society, but that over time would join the game of alliances within the rest of the party system.
After theChilean Civil War of 1891, the political system began to embody elements of aparliamentary system. Hence, the political coalitions became very strong. Although around twenty distinct political parties and movements existed, Chilean politics was structured around two large groups: theLiberal Alliance (of Liberal and Progressive tendency) and theCoalition (Conservative, Catholics). At the same time, political parties, formerly tools of the upper-class, expanded to include the thriving middle and working classes too.
With the rise of immigration fromEurope, workers with anarchist and socialist ideas came toChile. Additionally, in themid-19 century, the union movement began in the nitrate fields of the north of Chile through a surge of the joint labor unions. It is from these processes that in 1912, theWorkers' Socialist Party was founded inIquique by the typographerLuis Emilio Recabarren and 30 union workers and employees. The Workers' Socialist Party is defined as thepolitical party of the Chilean working class. In 1922, the party joined theThird Communist International. Since that date, the party has been known as theCommunist Party of Chile.
In the period between 1920 and 1938 (between the start of the first presidential term ofArturo Alessandri Palma and the end of his second term) a series of political incidents led to the loss of the importance of traditional nineteenth-century parties, but for the benefit of the "party masses".
The splendor of this new type of political party would come with the three presidential terms of theRadical Party between 1938 and 1952. At that time, the Radical Party (the faction of the middle class, par excellence), transformed into a large body of positions and political favors, which in the long run would lead to its discredit. Its place as an intermediate political group—between the right and the left—would be taken by theChristian Democratic Party. The Christian Democratic Party is the successor of theNational Falange, which in turn had split from the decliningConservative Party after the victory ofEduardo Frei Montalva (1964–1970). Regarding political parties, their main characteristic between 1938 and 1973 was their structuring into the classic "three-thirds" system (right, center, and left).
WithSalvador Allende, thePopular Unity came to power as a vast political coalition composed of elements from the center and the left. However, theMilitary Coup of 1973 signified not only the disappearance of the Popular Unity, but the breakdown of the party system and its end during most of the dictatorship ofAugusto Pinochet. Only in the last year of themilitary dictatorship was the OrganicConstitutional Law of Political Parties enacted, which regulated their formation and function.
Between1973 and1987, Chilean political parties were prohibited. On October 8, 1973, the members of thePopular Unity were banned and three days later, the rest of the political parties and movements were declared adjourned,[10] and definitively dissolved on March 12, 1977.[11]
On October 1, 1996, the Organic Constitutional Law was published in the Legal Gazette, which re-established the system of electoral registrations and created the Electoral Service of Chile (Servel) as a replacement for the former Directorate of the Electoral Registry.[12] On March 23, 1987, the Organic Constitutional Law of Political Parties was published—which established its objectives, requirements for legalization and the internal organization between others—with which the groups began procedures for their legal recognition.[13]
TheNational Party was the first political organization to be legally recognized by the Servel on December 23, 1987, inscribed officially in the registry on January 4, 1988.[14] In the following months—before thePlebiscite of October 5, 1988—theNational Advance,Humanist,National Renewal,Radical Democracy,Socialist,Christian Democratic (CDP),Party for Democracy,Party of the South,Radical andGreen parties were legalized.[15]
With the restoration of Democracy in 1990, the prominent political coalition was theConcertación de Partidos por la Democracia (Coalition of Parties for Democracy), a center-left group initially founded by 17 parties, of which the most important, which remained in the coalition throughout the years, were: TheChristian Democratic Party, theSocialist Party, theParty for Democracy and theRadical Party. The "Concertación" governed Chile throughout the presidencies ofPatricio Aylwin (1990–1994),Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle (1994–2000),Ricardo Lagos (2000–2006) andMichelle Bachelet (2006–2010). The opponent of the ruling coalition, was theAlianza (Alliance). The Alliance was a group of center-right parties, formed by the main parties that supported the "YES" option in the1988 plebiscite. Extra-parliamentarily, there was the leftist coalitionJuntos Podemos Más (Together we can do more), formed by theCommunist Party,Humanist Party,PC-AP and others left-wing movements, this coalition did not achieve great electoral results due to thebinomial system, which favoured the Concertacion and the alliance.
The "Alliance" came to power whenSebastián Piñera (2010–2014) assumed office. In 2013, after electoral losses, the "Concertación", with the intention of renewing its image, decided to make an agreement with theCommunist Party, theCitizen Left, and theMAS Region, creating theNew Majority. This coalition won comfortable victories in the 2013 elections and achieved re-election ofMichelle Bachelet between 2014 and 2018. In turn, the parties that made up the Alliance, regrouped in 2015 in a new coalition denominatedChile Vamos (Let's go Chile).
In 2016, the number of political parties in Chile doubled, increasing from 14 to 32. It came as aprecursor to the municipal elections of the year and theParliamentary Elections of 2017,[16] given that they will be the first to be held under the newproportional electoral system, the replacement for thebinomial system. The binomial system favoured the existence of two blocks to the detriment of isolated parties and independent candidates. In that election, theFrente Amplio (Broad Front) appeared, a coalition that brought together left-wing sectors, which surprisingly won the election of 20 deputies.[17] In the presidential election, Sebastián Piñera was able to return to the government and establishChile Vamos (Let's go Chile) as an official coalition between 2018 and 2022.
After thesocial outburst of 2019, aplebiscite was held that defined the drafting of a new constitution through aConstitutional Convention. The members of that body wereelected in May 2021, in a process that benefited independents over political party militants. The most successful group of independents wasThe List of the People.
From that election, the coalitionApruebo Dignidad (I Approve Dignity) emerged, which gathered the coalitionsFrente Amplio (Broad Front) andChile Digno (Worthy Chile). This group supported the presidential candidacy ofGabriel Boric, who after winning in the ballot decided to summon theSocialist,For Democracy,Radical andLiberal parties to the government, which were grouped in a coalition calledDemocratic Socialism. This implied the definitive break of the formerConcertación/New Majority with theChristian Democratic Party, which was not invited to the new administration.
From theright-wing emerged theRepublican Party, which in the parliamentary elections achieved the election of 14 deputies and one senator, facing the traditionalcenter-right grouped inChile Vamos, which from 2022 went to the opposition after the end of Piñera's government. Other blocks also emerged in those elections, such as theconservative liberalPartido de la gente (Party of the people).
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