Chile is a multiparty democracy with a constitution that
provides for a strong executive, a bicameral legislature, and a
separate judiciary. Approved by referendum in 1980 and amended
in 1989, the Constitution was written under the former military
government and retains certain institutional limits on popular
rule. In January 2000, voters elected Ricardo Lagos of the
Socialist Party as president in a free and fair runoff election.
Lagos' governing coalition known as the Concertacion held a
63-57 majority in the lower house. The Senate was divided 24-24
between pro-Concertacion legislators and the opposition. The
judiciary was independent. The armed forces are constitutionally
subordinate to the President through an appointed civilian
Minister of Defense but enjoy a large degree of legal autonomy.
Most notably, the President must have the concurrence of the
National Security Council, which consists of military and
civilian officials, to remove service chiefs. The Carabineros
(the uniformed national police) and