System of government and administration

Chile is a republic governed by a democratic system, with clear separation and independence of the three powers of state. The executive is headed by the president of the republic, who also serves as head of state. The judiciary is headed by the Supreme Court while the two-chamber legislature is formed by a lower house and a Senate.  

These three powers of state operate under the Political Constitution in force since 1980. This has been reformed on a number of occasions with the purpose of faithfully representing changes in Chilean society since the restoration of democracy in 1990.

Regional administration is organised as follows: Regional governments are headed by an intendent as the local representative of the president of the republic. Each region is administrated by a Regional Government, formed by the indendent as the executive power and a Regional Council, responsible for decision-making and supervising the intendent. Support is provided by Regional Ministerial Offices and, particularly, the Regional Planning and Co-ordination Office. At the regional level, these decentralised offices of the central government ministries report to the intendent.  

Provincial governments are headed by a governor, who reports to the intendent of the corresponding region and is the latter’s decentralised representative as the regional government executive. The Provincial Economic and Social Council, chaired by the governor, serves as a mechanism for consultative representation. 

Municipal districts are administered by the municipal government, formed by a mayor as the main authority and a council, chaired by the mayor, which is responsible for decision-making and for supervising the mayor. Both the mayor and councillors are elected directly for a four-year term. 

In order to fulfil their functions, municipal governments have departments such as the Municipal Planning and Co-ordination Office while each municipal district also has an Economic and Social Council, a consultative body that represents social organisations.