There is less than a week left until President Gabriel Boric faces his third Public Account. The last one, they say, in which you can talk about proposals. The counter had exclusive access to the study “Resolving in Democracy: Study of compliance with the 2022-2024 Government program” carried out by Rumbo Colectivo, a think center linked to the Frente Amplio. It provides data that warns that the Government has complied with the program in 51.7% of the 702 identified commitments.
One of the inputs used by think tank of the FA was the “Government Program 2022-2026 of Chile” of the then presidential candidate, Gabriel Boric. There, campaign promises were categorized in their ability to be verified in a specific result and those phrases that can be taken as commitments but that function more as guiding principles were discarded. For example, the study says, “we are committed to equal treatment for all.”
In detail, 702 commitments could be quantified, of which 28.9% (203 measures) are fulfilled, 22.8% (160) partially fulfilled and 23.4% in the process of fulfillment, that is, those promises that are in stages of deliberation, feasibility evaluation or evidence collection before the Executive develops actions. As for what is not yet discussed, they were categorized as “not started” promises, of which 175 are counted, corresponding to 24.9% of the program.
Another input that the think tank used was the Public Account of the President for the year 2023, to group the measures into thematic axes and thus identify in which aspects of the Government program there has been more compliance. Among the axes with the highest percentage of compliance is the item “Stop the rise in the cost of living”, with an advance of 80%, “Women” with 50% and “Copper, Lithium and Green Hydrogen” with 46%.
It should be noted that the percentage of compliance is also given by the number of promises in each subject. For example, in curbing the cost of living, there are five measures that address that. On the other hand, in the “women” topic, there are 24 measures that address this problem. The study highlights in this detail the promulgation of the Comprehensive Law Against Violence against Women and the expansion of SERNAMEG’s programmatic offering for victims of gender violence. In addition, they highlight the Mining Royalty Law and the Dialogues for the National Lithium Strategy.
Carla Sepúlveda, president of the board of directors of Rumbo Colectivo, pointed out to The counter that “although it has been spoken Much of the changes in priorities, the study shows that the Government has fulfilled relevant initial promises of the feminist agenda and the productive development agendaamong other”.
However, between the axesn the lowest percentage of compliance, or as the study says, the highest degree of commitment without starting, the most important areas appear such as Modernization of the State and Health, with non-compliance between 35% and 44%. And Culture, a forgotten agenda. This, halfway through the presidential term. In Education, the study shows that 12% of the promises are not started, but that there is 41% that are “in process.”
According to the study data, the Government has managed to fulfill 144 commitments through the exercise of public sector management powers, which translates into 31% of the promises that depend on the Government. On the other hand, regarding the procedures associated with the National Congress, 59 promises have been fulfilled, that is, 24% of the promises that depend on the procedure in the National Congress. Here, the report on the degree of compliance with the government program concluded that it is important to investigate those factors that make public management a more effective area than legislative processing.
Tomás Leighton, executive director of Rumbo Colectivo, pointed out to The counter that “what affects parliamentary obstructionism is not the popularity of a government, it is the trust of citizens in democracy. “A democracy that does not resolve the needs of the population is a democracy that is exposed to collapse at any moment.”
The legislative process, in addition to being less effective for the Government, means that most of the promises that are fulfilled are only partially fulfilled. This is explained by the large number of projects that are in Congress and that do not see the light of day.
In this situation is one of the key promises of the Government: the improvement of the pension system. According to the study, both the “Anti-abuse” item and the “Pensions” item have a lower proportion of fulfilled measures and have a high number of partially fulfilled measures. This is due – according to the study – to the fact that almost all of the measures in the aforementioned axes are the subject of law and are in a state of partially complied with, that is, pending processing in Congress. Here you will also find the tax system bill and the projects related to care matters.
In the conclusions, the study warns that “if a government does not complete promises within the first half of its mandate, the probability that these promises will be fulfilled decreases drastically.” Regarding that, they add that “It is relevant for the government to consider the set of measures still pending compliance, explore potential synergies and windows of opportunity that allow it to fulfill the vote of confidence that citizens have placed in the democratic government.”
Read the full document here: Rumbo Colectivo_Study Resolving in Democracy_May 2024
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