Abstract

MARAMBIO, Alexis; NAVIA, Patricio; FIGUERAS, Cristian  and  MADERA, Ariel. La cohesión legislativa entre la Concertación y el Partido Comunista en Chile, 2010-2013. Perf. latinoam. [online]. 2017, vol.25, n.50, pp.179-202. ISSN 0188-7653.  https://doi.org/10.18504/pl2550-009-2017.

Though it first won seats in the Chilean Congress in 2009 thanks to an electoral pact with the center-left Concertación, the Partido Comunista (PC) was not formally a member of the coalition in the 2010-2013 legislative period. As part of the opposition, there were instances of cooperation between the Concertación and the PC. We assess if that cooperation was also present in the legislative behavior. Applying the theory of competing principals to the party and coalition affiliation that Chilean legislators might have, we analyze the 1284 legislative bills introduced in the Chamber of Deputies in the period. Though they formed an electoral coalition, the Con-certación and PC did not behave as a political coalition in terms of bill sponsorship. Though the PC is closer to the Concertación than to other parties, there is greater distance between the PC and Concertación parties than within the Concertación. There is also greater distance between the PC and the Partido Demócrata Cristiano (PDC) than between the PDC and rightwing parties.

Keywords : Legislative behavior; competing principals; legislative cohesion; bill sponsorship; Partido Comunista; Concertación; Chile; Chamber of Deputies.

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