CIVIL SOCIETY INDEX REPORT FOR CHILE Chile: the associational reconstruction of a nation Santiago, Chile - November 2006 Fundación Soles 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ...............................................................................................................................................1 FOREWORD...............................................................................................................................................................2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................................................3 TABLES AND FIGURES ..............................................................................................................................................4 LIST OF ACRONYMS..................................................................................................................................................5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................................8 INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................................10 I. CIVIL SOCIETY INDEX: PROJECT AND APPROACH ...............................................................................12 1. PROJECT BACKGROUND......................................................................................................................................12 2. PROJECT APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY .........................................................................................................13 2.1. Conceptual Framework ..................................................................................................................................13 2.2. Project Methodology .....................................................................................................................................14 2.3. Linking Research with Action .......................................................................................................................15 2.4 Project outputs .................................................................................................................................................15 II. CIVIL SOCIETY INDEX IN CHILE...............................................................................................................16 1. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN CHILE ........................................................................................16 2. THE CONCEPT OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN CHILE .........................................................................................................20 III. ANALYSIS OF CIVIL SOCIETY..................................................................................................................22 1. STRUCTURE ........................................................................................................................................................22 1.1 The Breadth of Citizen Participation ...............................................................................................................22 1.2. Depth of Citizen Participation in Civil Society ..............................................................................................25 1.3. Diversity of Civil Society Participants ...........................................................................................................26 1.4. Level of Organisation .....................................................................................................................................28 1.5. Inter-relations within Civil Society.................................................................................................................31 1.6. Civil Society Resources..................................................................................................................................32 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................................34 2. ENVIRONMENT ...................................................................................................................................................36 2.1. Political Context .............................................................................................................................................36 2.2. Basic Rights and Freedoms ............................................................................................................................41 2.3. Socio-Economic Context ................................................................................................................................43 2.4. Socio-Cultural Context ...................................................................................................................................45 2.5. Legal Environment .........................................................................................................................................47 2.6. State-Civil Society Relations..........................................................................................................................50 2.7. Private Sector-Civil Society Relations............................................................................................................52 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................................53 3. VALUES ..............................................................................................................................................................55 3.1. Democracy......................................................................................................................................................55 3.2. Transparency ..................................................................................................................................................57 3.3. Tolerance ........................................................................................................................................................59 3.4. Non-violence ..................................................................................................................................................60 3.5. Gender Equity.................................................................................................................................................61 3.6. Poverty Eradication ........................................................................................................................................63 3.7. Environment Sustainability ............................................................................................................................64 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................................65 4. IMPACT...............................................................................................................................................................66 4.1. Influencing Public Policy ...............................................................................................................................66 4.2. Holding the State and Private Corporations Accountable...............................................................................69 4.3. Responding to Social Interests........................................................................................................................71 4.4. Empowering Citizens......................................................................................................................................71 4.5. Meeting Societal Needs ..................................................................................................................................77 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................................79 IV. CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................................80 ANNEXES................................................................................................................................................................83 BIBLIOGRAPHY.......................................................................................................................................................98 CIVICUS Civil Society Report for Chile 2 FOREWORD In late 2005 Fundacion Soles took the initiative of implementing the Civil Society Index Shortened Assessment Tool in Chile with the financial assistance of Fundación Avina. The National Index Team started the project by identifying potential members of the project´s Stakeholder Assessment Group (SAG)1. This group was finally composed by a selected number of people who have distinguished themselves in the area of civil society activities, whether in the state arena or in civil society as such. At the same time it was necessary to define a way of working that would allow us to achieve results in a very short time. The SAG’s meetings allowed us to make adjustments in methodology and to specify the different research matters given