This book provides an in-depth analysis of neo-liberal and progressive economic reforms and policies implemented in Chile since the Pinochet dictatorship. The core thesis of the book is that there is not just 'one Chilean economic model', but that several have been in force since the coup of 1973.

"The "Chilean model" has been expostulated for some time in the Latin American and Caribbean region and elsewhere because it appeared that the country, despite terrible political and economic turmoil, embodied important lessons about economic management." Over the last 15 years, Chile has been the Latin American country with the most consistent and successful economic record. The success of Chile's economic reforms and the subsequent dramatic increase in real income are well known. To a large extent, Chile's positive fiscal outcomes have been the result of sound policies as well as sound fiscal institutions. However, there is room for improvement in the education and health sectors, and the results for Chile in terms of equality of income are not positive. 'Chile: Recent Policy Lessons and Emerging Challenges' presents a series of papers analyzing different aspects of Chilean public policy, which cover economic and social policies as well as regulatory and governance issues. The book is broken down into three parts: The first part examines the contribution of macroeconomic policies to superior outcomes; the second part analyzes the many advances in the social sector and the remaining troublesome issues; and the third part evaluates regulatory reforms and the effects of privatization. Since no public policy model is static, further reforms are needed to maintain Chile's economic growth as well as to respond effectively to public demands. As Chile grapples with its pockets of poverty, the balance between social safety nets and the need for greater efficiency in labor markets, a rebalancing of regulatory powers, and other thorny issues, it will need to rely on its institutional experience in public policy and conflict resolution.

The economic reforms imposed by Augusto Pinochet's regime (1973-1990) are often credited with transforming Chile into a global economy and setting the stage for a peaceful transition to democracy, individual liberty, and the recognition of cultural diversity. The famed economist Milton Friedman would later describe the transition as the "Miracle of Chile." Yet, as Patricia Richards reveals, beneath this veneer of progress lies a reality of social conflict and inequity that has been perpetuated by many of the same neoliberal programs. In Race and the Chilean Miracle, Richards examines conflicts between Mapuche indigenous people and state and private actors over natural resources, territorial claims, and collective rights in the Araucania region. Through ground-level fieldwork, extensive interviews with local Mapuche and Chileans, and analysis of contemporary race and governance theory, Richards exposes the ways that local, regional, and transnational realities are shaped by systemic racism in the context of neoliberal multiculturalism. Richards demonstrates how state programs and policies run counter to Mapuche claims for autonomy and cultural recognition. The Mapuche, whose ancestral lands have been appropriated for timber and farming, have been branded as terrorists for their activism and sometimes-violent responses to state and private sector interventions. Through their interviews, many Mapuche cite the perpetuation of colonialism under the guise of development projects, multicultural policies, and assimilationist narratives. Many Chilean locals and political elites see the continued defiance of the Mapuche in their tenacious connection to the land, resistance to integration, and insistence on their rights as a people. These diametrically opposed worldviews form the basis of the racial dichotomy that continues to pervade Chilean society. In her study, Richards traces systemic racism that follows both a top-down path (global, state, and regional) as well as a bottom-up one (local agencies and actors), detailing their historic roots. Richards also describes potential positive outcomes in the form of intercultural coalitions or indigenous autonomy. Her compelling analysis offers new perspectives on indigenous rights, race, and neoliberal multiculturalism in Latin America and globally.

Should countries in Latin America and Eastern Europe follow the Chilean approach to economic restructuring, market liberalization, and stabilization? Following years of hyperinflation and domestic turmoil, Chile undertook a series of dramatic economic reforms. Chile has also served as a social laboratory for such policies as privatization and social security reform that are of interest to both developed and developing economies. Having implemented much of the original reform program and emerging in the 1990s with a new democratic government, Chile also raises interesting questions about what comes next in its policies to promote growth. The advent in the 1990s of Chile as a model for economic reform is something of a surprise. Many of the reforms were actually introduced in the 1970s, and for a number of years many seemed to have failed to achieve their primary objectives. The more recent, positive view of the Chilean experience results from developments after 1983. Since then, the Chilean economy has grown robustly. What remains controversial is the question why the benefits of the reforms took so long to emerge. In this book, international scholars review the reforms in Chile and assess their effectiveness. They evaluate stabilization policy, economic growth, privatization, reform of the social security system, and the politics of economic reform. Now that many of the original reforms have been largely completed, and Chile has maintained a coherent macroeconomic policy with slowly declining inflation, the authors prescribe what Chile must do to sustain growth in the future. In addition to the editors, contributors include Eduardo Bitran, University of Chile; Vittorio Corbo, Catholic University of Chile; Peter Diamond, MIT; Sebastian Edwards, University of California, Los Angeles, and the World Bank; Stanley Fischer, MIT; Felipe Larrain B., Catholic University of Chile; Mario Marcel, IDB; Manuel Marfán, CIEPLAN; Raúl E. Sáez, CIEPLAN; Andrés Solimano, the World Bank; Andrés Velasco, New York University; and Salvador Valdés-Prieto, Catholic University of Chile.

This book argues that - in terms of institutional design, the allocation of power and privilege, and the lived experiences of citizens - democracy often does not restart the political game after displacing authoritarianism. Democratic institutions are frequently designed by the outgoing authoritarian regime to shield incumbent elites from the rule of law and give them an unfair advantage over politics and the economy after democratization. Authoritarianism and the Elite Origins of Democracy systematically documents and analyzes the constitutional tools that outgoing authoritarian elites use to accomplish these ends, such as electoral system design, legislative appointments, federalism, legal immunities, constitutional tribunal design, and supermajority thresholds for change. The study provides wide-ranging evidence for these claims using data that spans the globe and dates from 1800 to the present. Albertus and Menaldo also conduct detailed case studies of Chile and Sweden. In doing so, they explain why some democracies successfully overhaul their elite-biased constitutions for more egalitarian social contracts.