Economic Stagnation and the Emergence of the Political Ideology of Chilean Underdevelopment

Abstract

The recent presidential election in Chile and the subsequent installation of Salvador Allende as “The first popularly elected Marxist president in the Western Hemisphere” have once again brought that isolated republic to the attention of the academic community, journalistic commentators, and the public at large. This is not the first time that Chile has experienced such world-wide interest in its domestic political affairs: the emergence of the so-called “Socialist Republic” in 1932, the Popular Front experience of 1938–41, and the 1964 election of the Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei marked other occasions when interest in Latin American politics has shifted to Chile. But perhaps never before has so much interest been lavished on tlie country as following the events of September, 1970.