Apathy at the polls in Chile

Editor's note: Justin Cox is a graduate of Scott City High School and Washington University. He is teaching English in Chile for six months.

Like in the United States, elections are quickly approaching here in Chile, and the campaigns for mayor and city council of Antofagasta are in full swing. I majored in political science at Washington University in St. Louis, so I have taken a lot of interest in comparing the mechanisms and quirks of Chile's still-young democracy with our own.

Some historical context is necessary. I just said that Chile's democracy is "young," but that's only half true. Before the military coup in 1973, Chile actually had the oldest and most stable democracy in Latin America. With the coup, though, came a systematic destruction of the institutions and individuals of the democracy. Political dissidents were disposed of, and the military government dismantled any organization that even remotely resembled a political party.

Thus, when the military dictator Pinochet finally handed over the keys to the country in 1990, Chile lacked many of the things that we take for granted in our own democracy: voting procedures, professional politicians and a strong voting tradition. At that time, there was an entire generation who had never known living in a democracy.

In the States, we teach students civic duty and patriotism in American history and government classes at an early age, and by having them pledge allegiance to our flag every morning. Major sporting events always start with the national anthem, and huge monuments are built to our most famous political heroes in the capital. And yet we still have less than 50 percent of the population voting in nonpresidential elections.

The cultivation of the sense of civic responsibility here in Chile has taken on even more conspicuous forms. Some methods are the same -- emphasizing the nation's history and singing the national anthem in schools, naming streets after their heroes, etc. -- but other efforts go beyond what we have done in the States. For example, all Chilean households must fly a Chilean flag for the five-day period around their independence day. If not, they are fined a considerable amount. In order to vote in any election, citizens must register well in advance. However, all registered voters are required by law to vote in all elections. If not, another fine. As a consequence, only a small percentage of Chileans are actually registered to vote -- and the numbers are particularly low for young people. Maybe it's the hassle of being a registered voter, or perhaps it is simply a general disgust with politics that seems to be a leftover from the days of the dictatorship, but for whatever reason, Chile shares our own problem of political apathy.