Engineers And Political Power In Chile 1810 - 1973. Essay Of Interpretation Of The Evolution Of Its Parliamentary And Ministerial Participation

Abstract

This paper studies the evolution of the political participation of engineers in key positions of the State (ministries, parliament, intendances) in Republican Chile between 1810 and 1973. Based on sources of sessions of the Congress, the Annals of the Institute of Engineers, the digital repository of CORFO, the Armando de Ramón Biographical Catalog and the parliamentary information of the National Congress Library (BCN). The paper shows how the participation of engineers in the powers of the State, which begins early and is institutionalized towards the end of the 19th century, correlates with the development of engineering in Chile, with the increasing “technification” of parliamentary and governmental activity and the type of government. This involvement, although small in percentage and restricted to a elite, is part of the increasing power that engineers are taking in different spheres of the country. The variations along the period studied show different ways of influence in State affairs, either from the State powers, when they gave them confidence, or from their private organizations and spaces of influence otherwise.

Keywords: Engineering, Technocracy, Politics, Chile, XIX-XX centuries.