Chile remains the fascination of Latin Americanists. Clearly part of the fascination and interest is embedded in the fact that Chile is and has been engaged in an experiment of societal and economic change that is testing the meaning and boundaries of reformism and revolutionary involvement. The period between 1964 and 1970 stands out as the era of social reform mongering under the political influence and guidance of the Christian Democratic Party of Chile (Partido Democrata Cristiano—PDC). Frankly, this period could be also very well designated as the “era of Frei” because of the tremendous imprint the PDC’s leader and presidential flagbearer left on the economic and social development of the country.
Alf Ammon’s and Heino Foehling’s slim volume offers an interesting and useful overview of the PDC’s ideological, organizational and operative structure. Ammon’s study presents a quick and well organized review of the historical evolution of the party, its path to mass representation and ultimately to power. The discussion of the ideological principles involved are especially useful when treating the communitarian trends and within party pressures aimed to define and operationalize a “non-capitalist” way of development while at the same time rejecting the authoritarian tendencies of both communism and state dominated socialism. The feasibilities of integrating a Christian-Catholic value system with the practical demands of accelerated social and economic change represent a strong facet of the discussion dealing with the inconsistencies that came to the forefront through the intra-party ideological battles of the late 1960s.
Ammon gives an objective although somewhat sympathetic appraisal of Christian Democracy’s promise and accomplishments. He slips only when attempting to place these ideological debates within the context of real-life conflicts that raged in the party about policy alternatives and methods of implementation throughout the last years of Christian Democratic rule.
Froehling’s short study of the critical party split within the PDC offers an excellent documentation and chronicle about the clearest internal confrontation of the “left” of PDC with the “mainstream” of leadership. By its nature this short study is most helpful to readers wishing to peruse the details, facts and events of the May 2-3, 1969 special meeting of the Junta Nacional of the PDC that culminated in the departure of the rebeldes from the ranks of the party. This study could very well serve as a useful departure for a more analytical treatment of the interrelationships and interaction of ideology and practical political preferences that were discernible within the PDC. Such an analytical and conceptually meaningful treatment still begs for its author!
René León Echaiz’s study on the historical evolution of Chilean political parties is an attractive and pleasant brief volume summarizing the major evolutionary trends and specific events of almost two centuries within the limitations of about 170 pages. The author should be praised for the systemic organization and the clear language of the work. As a quick reference work this may well be an indispensible item in the library of a historian or political scientist interested in Chilean political parties and their evolution. A short but instructive bibliography and a truly excellent index are also included. The brevity of the volume of course precludes any detailed analysis or in-depth commentary on virtually any of the historical periods discussed (for example, the Popular Front merits a grand total of two pages!). This is a fresh and useful reference work, but alas for a weightier analysis we still have to refer to Federico Gil’s Los partidos políticos chilenos.
Professor Grayson’s book El Partido Demócrata Cristiano chileno represents a monumental effort to place the unique force of Christian Democracy within the context of Chile’s political, social and economic history and evolution. At the very outset we are treated to a concise and most useful analysis of the societal background in which the ideas of social Christianity spread and gained dominance among certain segments of the university educated youth of the 1920s and 1930s.
The institutional development of the Falange Nacional, the Federación Social-Cristiana and the eventual formation of the PDC are amply documented and presented in an historically logical and analytically meaningful fashion. Especially noteworthy are the sections on the Falange’s relationship with the Popular Front and the conflict between the Falange and the Catholic Church. Professor Grayson is at his best when he moves into the contemporary period and although the manuscript leaves off with the Frei regime, it sets the stage for properly analyzing the successes and failures of the PDC while in power.
A most useful chapter is devoted to the internal organization and formal structure of the PDC. In addition, a section deals with matters of party discipline, leadership and the crucial matter of financial control and management. If one would try to highlight a weakness in this most thorough work, then it should appear in the last chapter which in somewhat of a hasty and haphazard fashion tries to assess among other things the external impact of Chilean Christian Democracy, its external policies, its social developmental efforts and the overall relevance of the PDC program for the long-range development of Chile! This is a bit much and as a consequence the text loses its previous cohesion and critical tightness. Still, on the whole, this volume is a must reading for students of Chilean politics. The book benefits from its excellent documentation, bibliography, chronology and a thorough index.
Maybe the true fascination of the Chilean political system rests in its peculiarly adaptive, flexible and responsive bargaining arrangements. Political parties are important and viable vehicles and instruments for mobilizing and channeling this bargaining impetus through an expanding pattern of political participation. First the Christian Democratic experience and now the socialist departure suggest that the readers may well expect a further outpouring of books, reassessing, analyzing, and updating the yeoman work the above four writers performed.
