PART IV - Industrial advance and the dawn of mass politics, 1930s–1960s

Summary

Between the 1930s and the 1960s, Chile underwent a widening of the democratic tradition, in which the franchise expanded and vigorous party competition continued, with the Marxist Left now an established actor. Fourteen years of Radical party ascendancy (1938–52) were followed by the election of the former dictator Ibáñez and, in 1958, a right-wing administration headed by Jorge Alessandri (Chapter 9). From the 1930s onward, the state took an increasing hand in the economy, as export-led growth was supplanted by “inward-directed” development, although the export of copper remained a vital economic factor. The impulse to industrialize yielded some initially impressive results, the innovative state development agency CORFO spurring industrial advance. Urban progress, however, was not replicated in the hacienda-dominated countryside. By the 1950s economic growth had slackened off, and the pressure for “structural” reform was mounting. The way was now opened to parties with strong reforming platforms (Chapter 10).