Other

(Political Economy Paper)

The Political Economy of Regulation: Chile’s Educational Reforms since the Return of Democracy

Authors

Image of Pablo González

Pablo González

Center for Public Systems and Center for Inclusive Education, University of Chile

Image of Andrés E. Fernández-Vergara

Andrés E. Fernández-Vergara

UCLA, Centre for the Transformation of Schools

Image of Gemma Rojas

Gemma Rojas

University of Chile (MPP student)

Image of Luis Vilugrón

Luis Vilugrón

University of Chile (MPP student)

This paper analyses three key political economy issues in Chile after the return of democracy in 1990: the prioritisation of learning; teacher's career and evaluation (intimately linked in the case of Chile); and quality assurance. The first issue is divided in turn in two subtopics: the identification of learning as the key educational policy objective and whether educational quality is made a priority by the government. The findings suggest a longstanding and sustained effort of successive approximations to better solutions that address the technical limitations and political restrictions that shaped reforms and policies, in a complicated path dependent process that will be analysed throughout this paper. All three issues are addressed in 26 interviews with key actors, the relevant legislation histories' as well as a national database of written media in the period 2007-2018, with special focus in the time span of legislative discussion of relevant initiatives.

Citation:

González, P., Fernández, A., Rojas, G. and Vilugrón, L. 2023. The Political Economy of Regulation: Chile’s Educational Reforms since the Return of Democracy. PE12. https://doi.org/10.35489/BSG-RISE-2023/PE12