El Congreso en el presidencialismo. El caso de Chile

Abstract

The article analyze the role of congress in chilean presidentialism and pay particular attention to the functions that it had fulfilled in the fifteen years of the new democracy. Legislature in Chile has been very active, which has led to the strengthening of the authority position of the senate, winning power resources taken from the president. The political development of congress after 1990 has been the opposite of the one before the military coup in 1973, when the president won more power, particularly the control of economic management, whereas now legislature has seen its authority positions strengthened. This trend was confirmed in the important constitutional reform of 2005, which permits congress to appoint members of the constitutional court. This process does not mean that the political system is moving towards a parliamentary system, or towards semipresidentialism. On the contrary, it demonstrates the dynamic of presidentialism, which needs an active congress to be an efficient political system. This dynamic is also present in Argentina and Brazil, and we use useful research on legislature undertaken by scholars of the respective countries.