Date of Award

Spring 5-18-2024

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Advisor(s)

Sal Acosta

Second Advisor

Christopher Toulouse, Ph.D.

Abstract

This research paper aims to dissect the origins of the free-market in Chile and its institution through dictatorship. The purpose of this paper is to analyze privatization as an instrument of conservative governments– specifically the Pinochet regime (1973-1990). It outlines how the authoritarian government arose in the geopolitical context of the Cold War which led to a series of neoconservative fiscal policies inspired by Milton Friedman and the “Chicago Boys.” This paper goes on to analyze the structural transformation that drastically changed the economic output of the country. The case study highlighted is the Chilean Water Code and the privatization of water rights. This paper ends with a discussion and analysis of the free-market project’s success due to the regime's effectiveness in disorganizing the opposition and the Constitution of 1980, which is compared to its socioeconomic effects on Chilean citizens.

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