The Mass Media and Political Socialization: Chile, 1970-2000

Y

30

Authoritarianism; Political Socialization; Political Attitudes; Democracy; Foreign Countries; Mass Media; Case Studies; Social Systems; Social Change; Political Influences; Change Agents; Surveys; Study Abroad; Student Projects

1085-4568

This project seeks to determine the effect of the mass media on political attitudes and behaviors in Chile between the years 1970 and 2000. The relationship between the media and "political socialization" is just now gaining recognition in scholarly research, and Chile offers an excellent case study. This paper traces these two variables during Salvador Allende's Socialist government, 1970-73; throughout Augusto Pinochet's right-wing dictatorship, 1973-1990; and in the return to democracy since 1990. Under Allende's Unidad Popular government the mass media were deeply polarized and antagonistic between the political right and left. Beginning on 11 September 1973, the day that Augusto Pinochet seized power through a violent coup, only extreme-rightist media were allowed to inform the Chilean public. The Pinochet regime heavily censored these media and used them as tools of political propaganda. In the mid-1980s, prompted by the country's new neoliberal economic experiment, the mass media began to undergo an "apertura", during which time opposition media provided a forum for political resistance. The opposition media were a major player in the 1988 plebiscite in which Pinochet was voted out of power. Since 1990, however, the mass media have seemingly lost their "raison d'etre": rather than the investigative reports seen at the dictatorship's demise, they now provide little more than entertainment. This paper sets forth hypotheses as to why the mass media underwent such dramatic changes in political character and role. It also analyzes the Chilean public's media consumption as an indicator of political behavior, employing numerous surveys and studies conducted between 1970 and 2000 as its basis. Due to space constraints, raw data is not included in this article. (Contains 120 footnotes.)

As Provided

2010

EJ891477