Chile's Political Divide: Republicanism vs. Aristocracy and the Neglected Middle Class

Chile's political landscape is characterized by a clash between a radical democratic discourse, largely driven by the "new left" since the Bachelet II administration, and an aristocratic discourse from the right. The radical democratic vision, influenced by thinkers like Carl Schmitt and Ernesto Laclau, advocates for dismantling institutions such as the Senate, the Constitutional Tribunal, and supermajority legislative quorums. In education, this perspective has promoted the idea that any form of selection, even based on academic merit, is discriminatory, and seeks to reduce educational providers to state instruments, establishing higher education as a universal right where the state enforces equality. Conversely, the Chilean right has historically espoused an aristocratic discourse, often protecting oligarchic interests and championing meritocracy, where the market is seen as a fair distributor of rewards. This view also includes a notion of noblesse oblige, where the elite have a duty to aid the less fortunate, creating tension with egalitarian social rights. This right-wing stance strongly defends educational selection and institutional autonomy.

Ironically, both pure democratic and aristocratic ideologies struggle to represent the middle class, clearly defining the 'top' and 'bottom' but lacking a concept for the 'middle.' The author argues that political disputes have largely been intra-oligarchic, with representatives from both left and right often attending similar elite private schools and sending their children to comparable institutions. This dynamic leads to educational policy decisions being made about others' children, fostering highly ideological debates. The result is a political system with increasingly extreme rhetoric and poor outcomes that rarely impact legislators themselves, which the author labels a form of oligarchic corruption of the republican system. Such oligarchic regimes are historically unstable, paving the way for demagogues and tyrants.

The author suggests a correction through the republican ideal of integrating democracy and aristocracy, focusing on the rule of law anchored in the middle class, potentially leading to a new "compromise state." A key element would be a public education system that fosters rigor and effort while also allowing for selection to cultivate republican elites. These elites would serve as a counterbalance to the oligarchic tendencies of dominant classes. The restoration of selective high schools, historically dismantled by the "New Majority" and "Broad Front," along with selection tests, is presented not as an excess but as a necessary correction to a system that has gone too far, damaging a core component of the republican machinery.