The Right in Action

Abstract

The preceding examination of the social base and internal institutions of Renovación Nacional (RN) and Unión Demócrata Independiente (UDI) facilitates a deeper understanding of the policy orientations, strategies and tactics of both parties: in essence, how the former shape the latter. Moreover, an examination of both parties’ policy agenda and how this is expressed politically can reveal the degree to which they have been successful in inserting themselves into Chile’s nascent democratic framework. For over 17 years, the right’s actions were determined by their relatively direct access to power within an authoritarian framework. Today’s challenge is to find a mechanism for participation as an opposition force within a democratic framework. The rules of the contemporary political game are radically different from those of the military regime and as such the new right is, relatively speaking, a new contender.