Resumen

MELLA POLANCO, Marcelo. Propensión coalicional en Chile: un análisis de los casos del Frente Popular, la Unidad Popular y la Concertación de partidos por la democracia. CONfines relacion. internaci. ciencia política [online]. 2014, vol.10, n.20, pp.59-90. ISSN 1870-3569.

This article seeks to analyze, beyond the restrictions or institutional incentives, the conditions coalitional "genetic" propensity in Chile during the twentieth century and for their sustainance as coalition governments. For this purpose, we analyze comparatively the cases of the Frente Popular (1936-1941), the Unidad Popular (1969-1973) and the Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia (1988-2010), each of which constitutes a political experience with different characteristics situated in particular historical contexts, which, yet, can be grouped together as coalitions born out of leftist parties that evolved from an electoral alliance into coalition governments. The key dimensions to be explored in the comparative analysis refer to internal and contextual factors that may both explain the relationship between opportunities and coalitional processes and unveil the mechanisms enabling the birth, maintenance and pervasiveness of coalitions in the socio-political structure.

Palabras llave : Chilean political system; coalitional processes; political development; presidential system.