| Description |
Army General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte came to power in Chile after a military coup on September 11, 1973. Many of those associated with the previous administration were arrested, beaten, killed, or banished from the country. Poor people who lived in the neighborhoods surrounding Santiago were also targeted by the military, especially those associated with Marxist political parties or labor unions.; After the coup, Pinochet continued to rule by enforcing his political policies through repression. Those suspected of anti-regime activities were arrested, beaten, and sometimes killed or "disappeared." Because of the high level of fear, there was little resistance to his policies initially, despite the fact that Pinochet's political and economic policies were devastating to a large portion of the population. Public quiescence would change, however, with time. From 1982 to 1986, the poor banded together with political party activists, labor union members, students, and religious figures to protest the Pinochet government. The intent of many of those protesting was to return Chile to a democratic government and eliminate the use of military repression to maintain regime stability. These goals can be seen as collective goods, meaning that if one person attains them they are shared by all. Why were people willing to risk their lives for goods that they could receive solely from the action of others? How were so many Chileans willing to take such risks? Mancur Olson discusses this situation in his book The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups. He found that there are certain situations in which a group-is more likely to overcome the so-called "free-rider" problem. It helps for a group to provide selective incentives and a small group can more easily act for collective goods than a large group. This occurred in the 1980s in Chile. There are other reasons that many Chileans were able to overcome the difficulties of collective action. Political opportunities for action against Pinochet were more plentiful. In the early 1980s, the level of violence used by the government was decreasing as economic conditions worsened. The combination of these factors lessened the fear of violence. The mobilizing structures of the anti-Pinochet groups were also important in aiding the protestors. The Catholic Church was mostly free from the government's control and was often vocal against its abuses. Protesting organizations were concentrated; in small geographic groups that could more easily avoid the government's watch than large national groups. Most importantly, the framing processes that the Chileans used to make decisions regarding collective action had been influenced by years of prior participatory democratic government. Chile had had a wide range of political parties, active labor unions, and a free press. These experiences led many Chileans to believe that what affected one, affected the whole, and they had a strong sense of the effectiveness of collective action. The combination of these factors helped many Chileans overcome their fears of government retribution and overcome the difficulties of collective action. The protests from 1982 to 1986 were instrumental in advancing the eentual return ot democracy in Chile by the end of the decade. |
