Social Movements, Public Policy, and Informal Institutions: The Role of Patronage in Chile (2006–2022)

Abstract

The article analyzes how mobilization and public policy meet and shape one another in Chile over almost two decades, characterized by an intensive cycle of collective action (2006–2022). By examining the interrelationship between mobilization and public policy, we argue that patronage is the glue that binds the two issues. Using descriptive data from the Conflict Observatory of the Center for Social Cohesion and Conflict Studies, as well as secondary information produced by state agencies in Chile and primary information comprising fieldwork conducted in six regions between 2003 and 2021, we show that until 2019, patronage channeled and attenuated social conflict in specific areas, enabling the rapid delivery of social benefits and jobs that public policies should transparently manage but do not.