"It is not about the 30 pesos, it is about the 30 years": Chile's Elitist Democracy, Social Movements, and the October 18 Protests

Abstract:This article analyzes Chile's prolonged transition to democracy, the nature of democracy between 1990 and 2019, and the appearance of multiple social movements geared to expand this "democracy of agreement or democracy of consensus". The article argues that both in its origins and its performance, the political system became illegitimate and provided the space for the action of multiple social movements. This process culminated with the massive protests of October 2019, known as the October 18 movement. The paper concludes with an analysis of the demands made by the protesters and the government responses to the October 18 movement and the pandemic.