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State, Politics and the Idea of Social Justice in Chile
Author(s) -
Silva Patricio
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
development and change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1467-7660
pISSN - 0012-155X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-7660.1993.tb00493.x
Subject(s) - ideology , politics , state (computer science) , social equality , sociology , social philosophy , political economy , equity (law) , law and economics , economic justice , legislation , element (criminal law) , democracy , social justice , law , political science , social change , public administration , algorithm , computer science
This article explores the ways in which the idea of social justice has been utilized during this century as an idée‐force in Chilean politics. It stresses the Catholic background of the concept and shows how it has been adapted to the political objectives of several doctrinal streams. The idea of social justice has been a powerful ideological instrument for governments in their attempts to deal with the social expectations of the electorate and to create a broad consensus between different political and social sectors. This idea has also been historically related to an active state role in the search for equity through income distribution and the adoption of progressive social legislation. While the recent military government (1973‐90) radically reformulated both the social function of the state and the official definition of social justice, the current democratic authorities seem to have readopted the idea of social justice as a key element in their ideological discourse.