Liberalism and radicalism in Chile


This article gives an overview of liberal and radical parties in Chile. It is limited to liberal and radical parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ means a reference to another party in that scheme. For inclusion in this scheme, parties do not necessarily need to have labeled themselves as a liberal party.

Introduction

Liberalism was organized as the traditional opposition to conservatism in Chile. In the 1860s radical liberals formed the radical current. Traditional liberalism disappeared in the 1960s into conservatism and radicalism developed into social democracy, leaving liberalism unrepresented. Originally the Social Democrat Radical Party was a left of center liberal party, but nowadays it is a social democratic party.

The timeline

Liberal Party

Radical Party

Liberal Democratic Party (1876)

Independent Liberal Party

  • 1885: An anti-government faction of the ⇒ Liberal Party formed the Independent Liberal Party
  • 1933: The party rejoined the ⇒ Liberal Party

Liberal Democratic Party (1892)

Unionist Liberal

  • 1920: Dissidents from the ⇒ Liberal Party formed the Unionist Liberal
  • 1927: The party didn't survive the 1927 dictatorship of Carlos Ibáñez.

United Liberal Party

  • 1931: A faction of the ⇒ Liberal Party formed the United Liberal Party
  • 1933: The party rejoined the ⇒ Liberal Party

Radical Socialist Party

Radical Democratic Party

  • 1946: A moderate faction of the ⇒ Radical Party formed the Radical Democratic Party
  • 1949: The Radical Democratic Party rejoined the ⇒ Radical Party

Radical Doctrinal Party

Radical Democracy

  • 1969: In reaction to growingly leftist tendencies in the ⇒ Radical Party a moderate, anti-Communist faction seceded as Radical Democracy.
  • 1973: The party opposed Salvador Allende and voluntarily dissolved itself after the 1973 coup.
  • 1988: The party reappeared to participate on the 1989 elections.
  • 1990: The party, who was unable to garner a significant number of votes in the parliamentary elections, joins the National Advance and the National Party and forms the National Democracy of Center.

Left Radical Party

Liberal leaders