The history of the Constitution of Chile dates from 1811. There were 10 constitutional texts and a draft for a federal organization in 1826. Its common elements are the unitary form of state and presidentialism as a form of government.
In this time, statutes pursued guaranteeing the autonomy of the Captaincy General of Chile before the Spanish Crown, and later gaining full independence and consolidating an institutional system. The first texts were only provisional decrees and later became more established normatives.
After the victory over Royalist forces, the Bernardo O'Higgins rule was created:
After O'Higgins resignation, there was a time of "political learning" that produced many constitutional texts that failed to take hold due to successive political crises.
After the end of the institutional crisis, Chile began to consolidate its political institutions, while living different influences throughout its history (conservatism, liberalism, populism, etc.).
In this period, texts are qualified as "authentic" constitutions in the sense that define the fundamental rights, establish the relationship between state and citizens, set and regulate the functions of branches of government and their authorities; mechanisms of law creation and constitutional reform. All texts define Chile as a unitary state, the president is both head of state and government, with a bicameral congress and independent judiciary.
The territory of Chile has been populated since at least 3000 BC. By the 16th century, Spanish invaders began to raid the region of present-day Chile, and the territory was a colony between 1540 and 1818, when it gained independence from Spain. The country's economic development was successively marked by the export of first agricultural produce, then saltpeter and later copper. The wealth of raw materials led to an economic upturn, but also led to dependency, and even wars with neighboring states. Chile was governed during most of its first 150 years of independence by different forms of restricted government, where the electorate was carefully vetted and controlled by an elite.
Chile's government is a representative democratic republic, in which the President of Chile serves as both head of state and head of government, within a formal multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the president and their cabinet. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of the National Congress. The judiciary operates independently of both the executive and legislative branches.
Juan Antonio Ríos Morales was a Chilean political figure who served as president of Chile from 1942 to 1946, during the height of World War II. He died in office.
The Senate of the Republic of Chile is the upper house of Chile's bicameral National Congress, as established in the current Constitution of Chile.
General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo was a Chilean Army officer and political figure. He served as President twice, first between 1927 and 1931, and then from 1952 to 1958, serving for 10 years in office.
José Manuel Emiliano Balmaceda Fernández served as the 10th President of Chile from September 18, 1886, to August 29, 1891. Balmaceda was part of the Castilian-Basque aristocracy in Chile. While he was president, his political disagreements with the Chilean congress led to the 1891 Chilean Civil War, following which he shot and killed himself.
A constitutional referendum was held in Chile on 11 September 1980. The proposed new constitution would replace the 1925 constitution, and was approved by over two-thirds of voters.
The Chilean Civil War of 1829–1830 was a civil war in Chile fought between conservative Pelucones and liberal Pipiolos forces over the constitutional regime in force. This conflict ended with the defeat of the liberal forces and the approval of a new constitution in 1833, that was in force until 1925.
José Miguel Infante y Rojas was a Chilean statesman and political figure. He served several times as deputy and minister, and was the force behind the Federalist movement in that country.
The Socialist Republic of Chile was a short-lived political entity in Chile, that was proclaimed by the Government Junta that took over that year.
The President of Chile, officially known as the President of the Republic of Chile, is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Chile. The president is responsible for both government administration and state administration. Although its role and significance have changed over time, and its position and relations with other actors in the national political organization have also evolved, it remains one of the most prominent political offices in the country. It is also considered one of the key institutions that form the "Historic Constitution of Chile," and is crucial to the country's political stability.
The United Conservative Party was a right-wing Chilean political party founded in December 1953 after the merger of the Traditionalist Conservative Party and a faction of the Social Christian Conservative Party, issued from the Conservative Party. It supported for the 1958 presidential election the candidacy of Jorge Alessandri and participated, along with the Liberal Party and supporters of former president Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, in its government. In 1962, it participated in the Democratic Front of Chile center-right coalition which opposed the left-wings FRAP coalition and supported for the 1964 presidential election Eduardo Frei Montalva.
The Ministry of National Defense is the cabinet-level administrative office in charge of "maintaining the independence and sovereignty" of Chile. It is also charged with planning, directing, coordinating, executing, controlling and informing the defense policies formulated by the President of Chile. The minister supervises all the Chilean armed forces. It is Chile's ministry of defence.
The Constitution of Guatemala is the supreme law of the Republic of Guatemala. It sets the bases for the organization of Guatemalan government and it outlines the three main branches of Guatemalan government: executive branch, legislative branch, and judicial branch.
The Constitution of the Philippines is the supreme law of the Philippines. Its final draft was completed by the Constitutional Commission on October 12, 1986, and ratified by a nationwide plebiscite on February 2, 1987. The Constitution remains unamended to this day.
The Constitution of 1925 was the constitution in force in Chile between 1925 and 1973 when the Government Junta suspended it. In the 1920s Chile had a severe social and economic crisis that led to the loss of prestige for old ruling class, labeled oligarchy in Chilean historiography, and the rise of a more sensibilized populist government led by Arturo Alessandri. In 1924 Alessandri was outed in a coup, but was called back in 1925 to complete his mandate. Alessandri then used his presidency to draft a new constitution to replace the Constitution of 1833. The constitution was approved by plebiscite by 134,421 voters on August 30 of 1925. Prominent features of the constitution were:
The Constitution of Costa Rica is the supreme law of Costa Rica. At the end of the 1948 Costa Rican Civil War, José Figueres Ferrer oversaw the Costa Rican Constitutional Assembly, which drafted the document. It was approved on 1949 November 7. Several older constitutions had been in effect starting from 1812, with the most recent former constitution ratified in 1871. The Costa Rican Constitution is remarkable in that in its Article 12 abolished the Costa Rican military, making it the second nation after Japan to do so by law. Another unusual clause is an amendment asserting the right to live in a healthy natural environment.
The Constitutional Convention was the constituent body of the Republic of Chile in charge of drafting a new Political Constitution of the Republic after the approval of the national plebiscite held in October 2020. Its creation and regulation were carried out through Law No. 21,200, published on 24 December 2019, which amended the Political Constitution of the Republic to include the process of drafting a new constitution. The body met for the first time on 4 July 2021. Chilean President Sebastian Piñera said, "This Constitutional Convention must, within a period of 9 months, extendable for an additional 3 months, draft and approve a new constitution for Chile, which must be ratified by the citizens through a plebiscite." It ended its functions and declared itself dissolved on 4 July 2022.
The Organization of the Republic is the period of the history of Chile that occurred between the abdication of Bernardo O'Higgins, on January 28, 1823, and the promulgation of the Conservative Constitution, on May 25, 1833.
The National Popular Party (PANAPO) was a Chilean right-wing political party, with nationalist tendencies, that existed between 1958 and 1963.