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Chile
Women in decision-making positions
34%
Members of local deliberative bodies are women (857 elected women)
No woman is Head of State/Government
35%
Parliamentarians are women
58%
Ministers are women

Government organization

Chile is a unitary republic with two spheres of government: central and local.

One tier of central government and two tiers of local government: regions and municipalities.
Central government
  • Head of State: The President is directly elected by voters.
  • Head of Government: The President is the Head of State and Head of Government.
  • Legislative body: The National Congress is a bicameral legislature, with an upper house (the Senate) and a lower house (the Chamber of Deputies). Members of the National Congress are directly elected by voters.
  • Executive body: The Ministers of State are appointed by the President.
Local government
  • Organization: Local government is organized into two tiers: an upper tier of 16 regional-level local government units and a lower tier of 346 municipalities.
  • Autonomies: Local government is primarily responsible for managing the assets of the locality, drafting local regulations, and approving and executing the local budget.
  • Ministerial oversight: The Ministry of the Interior and Public Security

Overview of local government

Local government composition
Regional-level government (regiones)

Deliberative body: The regional council (consejo regional) is composed of 14-34 elected members. The regional governor (gobernador regional) presides over the regional council; the regional governor is also vested with executive powers.

Executive body: The regional governor is the executive of the regional level of government.

Municipalities (municipios)

Deliberative body: The municipal council (concejo municipal) is composed of 6-10 elected members. The mayor (alcalde) presides over the municipal council; the mayor is also vested with executive powers.

Executive body: The mayor is the executive of the municipal level of government.

Local government elections
Electoral system

Electoral system for the local deliberative bodies: proportional representation (open list)

  •  Municipal councils are made up of councilpersons elected by direct suffrage, through a proportional representation system with open lists.

Electoral system for the regional governors and mayors: majority/plurality

  • Regional governors and mayors are directly elected by voters using a majority electoral system, in which a candidate must obtain at least 40% of the total votes, using a separate ballot from the local deliberative body election.

Source: Constitution, 1980 (amended through 2022), article 118 (election of the mayor); Law on Regional Government and Administration, 2005 (amended through 2022), article 96; Law on the Municipalities, 2006 (amended through 2022), articles 72, 121, 122 and 123

Quotas
  • Gender quotas: No
  • Additional quotas: No
Term of elections
  • Term length: 4 years
  • Last local elections: 2021
  • Next local elections: 2025
Electoral management body

Electoral Service of Chile

National legal framework on local government
National legal framework
  • Constitution of the Republic of Chile, 1980 (amended through 2022);
  • Law on the Strengthening of Regionalization, 2018;
  • Law on the Municipalities, 2006 (amended through 2022);
  • Law on the Regional Government and Administration, 2005 (amended through 2022).
Constitutional provisions on local government

There are constitutional provisions that establish local government in Chile. According to Articles 111 and 118 of the 1980 Constitution of the Republic of Chile (amended through 2022), “the superior administration of each region resides in a regional government, which will have as [its] object the social, cultural and economic development of the region. The regional government will be constituted by a regional governor and the regional council. For the exercise of its functions, the regional government will enjoy juridical personality of public law and will have its own patrimony. The municipalities are autonomous corporations of public law, with juridical personality and their own patrimony, the objective of which is to satisfy the necessities of the local community and to assure its participation in the economic, social and cultural progress of the commune.”

Legislative provisions on local government

The National Congress is responsible for establishing the national legal framework on local government. The key pieces of legislation which regulate local government are the Law on the Municipalities of 2006 (amended through 2022) and the Law on Regional Government and Administration of 2005 (amended through 2022), which establish the functions and attributions of the regional governor and the mayor, regulate the composition and functions of the councils, and establish the modalities and forms of local community participation in municipal activities.

Sources:

1. UN Women: Data on share of women in local government as of 1 January 2023.

2. UN Women: Information on Head of State and Government as of 3 October 2023.

3. Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU): Data on share of women in the single/lower chamber of parliament as of 1 January 2023.

4. IPU and UN Women: Data on share of women in ministerial positions as of 1 January 2023.

5. Information on local government organization as of 1 January 2023.