Political parties are indispensable for the functioning of representative democracy. To do this, they must formulate a political project for the whole society, which translates into a program for a historical period, and that they have a strategy and an organization to fulfill this objective and, in this way, have a role of intermediation between the citizens and the Government. These functions are not fulfilled in a vacuum. Parties are part of society and must therefore articulate and represent significant forces in the society in which they operate.
If this does not happen, the parties, even if they call themselves parties, are not such, but fractions. The parties of the former Concertación expressed very significant social forces since the return of democracy in 1990. But later, after the student mobilizations of 2011, they stopped representing and expressing the desires of significant social forces in Chilean society. In the second government of President Bachelet, through the parties of the New Majority, an attempt was made to express and represent them, which failed due to the lack of agreement of some parties of that coalition. Subsequently, as a result of the social explosion of 2019 and the subsequent election of the constituents, the inability of the parties of the former Concertación and Nueva Mayoría to express and represent the demands of the social movement was clearly manifested.
On the other hand, there is a crisis of representative democracy. As Castells points out, between 50 and 80 percent of citizens, depending on the countries, do not feel represented by the parties and question the institutional rules of democratic functioning. Representative democracy must face the reality of an environment that is different from the geographical environment of the countryside and city, and of the States and countries in which it developed, because a new environment has emerged consisting of electronic and telematic spaces or areas, by the so-called ICTs. Social media changes power relations. Digital identities are established that are forming a new framework of coexistence and interaction, which develop practices and customs that constitute a new culture.
In this context, representative democracy is not enough, it must be complemented to express the new social forces with their new demands that, in addition, go beyond the strict territorial scopes of the countries. This has a very decisive impact on parties and politics. This environment is not just an information space. It generates a greater involvement of citizen participation in the resolution of the problems that concern them. This is a fundamental change for progressive parties in the way they insert themselves into society, how they process demands and promote deliberative spaces.
The parties of the former Concertación and Nueva Mayoría will only be able to return to validity if they understand this new reality. If they are able to express the desires and demands of these new social forces that propose structural changes that respond to new issues, such as: feminism, multiculturalism, the environment, global warming, LGTBI, cybersecurity, etc. Otherwise, they will have a short or long agony.
The content expressed in this opinion column is the sole responsibility of its author, and does not necessarily reflect the editorial line or position of El Mostrador.
