Introducing the Case Study Areas: Hydro-climatic and Governance Contexts - Climate Change and Water Governance: Adaptive Capacity in Chile and Switzerland - page 102

role (Budds 2004 ). Prior to the military coup, Chile's 140 years of democracy
was defined by a hierarchical style of politics imposed on a centralised state, with
political institutions developing a top-down character, keeping civil society in check
(Carruthers 2001 ) .
The Pinochet regime narrowed the scope for political agency by legitimising
repression of civic associations, opposition parties and labour unions in order to
refashion class and labour relations in the mould of neoliberal politics. Carruthers
( 2001 , p 346) notes that 'contemporary Chilean politics is characterized by three
dominant, related trends: a decline in popular participation, the reconsolidation of
elitism, and embedded neoliberalism'. The legacy of history, dictatorship and transition
has led to a situation where the values and solidarity of grassroots movements are seen
as anachronistic and idealistic. Social movements are marginal and political parties are
seen as elitist (Carruthers 2001 ), creating a difficult context for environmental policy
and activism to take place. Awareness of environmental issues is gradually reawakening,
as an increasing number of environmentally destructive projects are inciting civic
movements (see for example the Patagonia Sin Repressa campaign).
The preceding 30 years have therefore been a period of both turbulence and
dynamic growth for Chile. Following on from its initiation by the Pinochet Regime
in 1973, the 1980 Constitution came into effect, with Article 19.24 that formalises
water rights as private property, changing water into a commodity like any other.
The handover of power from Pinochet to the Concertacion came with the require-
ment that the Chilean Constitution would not be altered, and some stakeholders still
allude to the latent threat from the powerful military and business leaders if this
agreement would be reneged. The neo-liberal economic policies implemented
during the dictatorship have since defined Chilean politics and driven its export
oriented economy, subsidiary government role, as well as the privatisation of vital
services. It has led some to suggest that the country, its watershed, rivers and eco-
systems have been handed over to the forces of the market and the private sector.
In the absence of state regulation that protects the environmental and social health
of the country, citizen bodies and international NGOs are now attempting to raise
awareness and fill in the protective, long term focussed, role that a government
regulatory body should in theory provide.
Water governance similarly had to fall in line with the commitment to develop-
ment based on an export-oriented economy (Rogers and Hall 2003 ), which led to a
lack of transparency, participation and concern for ecosystems. Water rights in Chile
are a marketable commodity, and the country's approach to water management is
deemed unique in the world since it took the water use rights market as the basis for
its water governance system (Bauer 2004 ). While other governance systems have
utilised a water market as a means to improve effectiveness and efficiency of their
governance regime (e.g. California, USA and Australia), the Chilean governance
system is led by the market based focus on private property rights, with minimal
environmental regulation and no sectoral prioritisation (Bauer 2004 ; Corkal and
Hurlbert 2008 ; Solanes and Gonzalez-Villareal 1999 ) .