Institutional Reforms Matter: Youth Representation in the Chilean Congress over Three Decades
摘要
Chile, with its stable institutions and low parliamentary turnover, offers a case of limited generational renewal. This chapter analyses youth representation in the Chilean National Congress from 1990 to 2026, focusing on descriptive representation and the impact of institutional reforms—especially the 2015 shift from a binomial to a proportional electoral system. Longitudinal data show a modest 2.68 years decrease in legislators’ average age, with notable moments like the election of President Gabriel Boric. While reforms have led to short-term political renewal and increased youth inclusion, the age structure of the Chilean Congress remains largely unchanged. The findings suggest that without deeper party transformations, reforms alone produce incremental rather than transformative change.