Summary

Chile has a very good image on international rankings about its transition to democracy and democratic performance. Despite it, the Chilean case is still a case of incomplete democracy, due to the authoritarian enclaves inherited from the military dictatorship and not yet totally overcome. Analyzed through constitutional, electoral and citizen dimensions of democracy, the Chilean one shows a contradiction between the significant achievements under Concertación government in almost twenty years and the weaknesses of this three dimensions. These weaknesses originated in the limits to popular sovereignty grounded on the Constitution where it was consecrated political exclusions through the electoral bi-nominal system. This generated an institutional design which leads to severe restrictions both factual and normative in political participation. Finally, the citizen dimension of democracy confronts several problems concerning civil rights of minorities, socio-economic inequalities, electoral participation and lack of social participation institutions.