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Reject, Reject, Reject...Passed! Explaining a Latecomer of Emigrant Enfranchisement
[journal article]
Abstract Despite the extensive spread of external voting across the world, exceptions remain as some countries have not passed such regulations (e.g., Uruguay) or have passed them but lag implementation (e.g., Nicaragua). Others still took a long time to join the trend, possibly presenting a pushback to the ... view more
Despite the extensive spread of external voting across the world, exceptions remain as some countries have not passed such regulations (e.g., Uruguay) or have passed them but lag implementation (e.g., Nicaragua). Others still took a long time to join the trend, possibly presenting a pushback to the commonly accepted notion of norm diffusion to explain migrant enfranchisement. We examine a latecomer by asking why Chile took so long to enfranchise emigrants. Classified as a liberal democracy with a century of legal history of foreign-resident voting, it repeatedly rejected proposed bills on external voting since 1971. Chile enacted external voting only in 2014, regulated it in 2016, and applied it in 2017. Through legal historical content analysis, we identify which political actors proposed the bills, when, and why each failed. Left and right-leaning actors gave normative, legal, and procedural reasons that resulted in rejection and stagnation at various institutional stages. This latecomer's constitutional tradition, strongly focused on territory and territorial links, potentially sheds light on dozens of other country cases of late adoption of the external franchise.... view less
Keywords
Chile; political regime; political participation; election; suffrage; emigration; political development; migration
Classification
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Free Keywords
democratic norms; emigrant enfranchisement; external voting
Document language
English
Publication Year
2024
Journal
Politics and Governance, 12 (2024)
Issue topic
The Political Representation and Participation of Migrants
ISSN
2183-2463
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed