Political outline

Executive Power

President is both the chief of state and head of government, and holds the executive powers. President appoints the Cabinet and has the authority to remove the commanders-in-chief of the armed forces. P resident is elected by popular vote for a single four-year term.

Legislative Power

The legislature is bicameral. The parliament called National Congress consists of: Senate (the upper house) with its members elected by popular vote to serve eight-year terms, and the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house) with its members elected by popular vote to serve four-year. Chile's congressional elections are governed by a unique binomial system that rewards coalition representations. Each coalition can run two candidates for the two Senate and two Deputy seats apportioned to each electoral district and parties are forced to form wide coalitions. Historically, the two largest coalitions (Concertacion and Alianza) split most of the seats in a district. The citizens of Chile enjoy considerable political rights.

Main political parties

The main political parties are: PDC (Christian Democratic Party), PRSD (Radical Social Democratic Party), PS (Socialist Party), PPD (Party for Democracy), RN (National Renewal), UDI (Independent Democratic Union) and PC (Communist Party)

Current political leaders

President: Sebastian Piñera (since March 2010) – (Renovación Nacional - RN)

Next election dates

Presidential: December 2013
National Congress (both Senate and Chamber of Deputies): December 2013