Reflexive modernization in Chile: Electoral participation and citizen confidence in post-dictatorship institutions. Analyzes of the years 1999 and 2010

Abstract

This article analyzes the stage of reflective modernization in Chile during the years 1999-2010, considering the social trust relationship between citizenship and institutions of power –or abstract systems- (Giddens, 1993). It is a period of consolidation of the Chilean development model characterized by a clear openness to the globalization processes. In this context, the analysis has been carried out in two central dimensions. First, the level of confidence of the citizenship over the abstract systems, expressed both by their perception of the present and the future as well as the valorization power of the main institutions of the country. Secondly, the electoral participation of the Chilean population during three presidential elections held in this decade.