CONSTITUTIONAL BASIS OF THE ECONOMIC PUBLIC ORDER IN CHILE
CONSTITUTIONAL BASIS OF THE ECONOMIC PUBLIC ORDER IN CHILE

Summary/Abstract: Undoubtedly, the 1980 Constitution was deeply influenced by the painful experiences of Chile’s constitutional history in the financial field. Chile’s past political economy was characterized by a State that stifled private initiative, generated important arbitrary discriminations, intervened directly in economic activities through the creation of enterprises or indirectly through discriminatory laws, and so on. The new economic order restricts the State activity and seeks to prevent the implementation of an economic system based on State planning, such as the one that existed in Chile during the 70’s. The Constitution contains various provisions concerning the functioning of the State, which pertain to free enterprise freedom. It can be inferred from those provisions that the Constitution restricts State activity in order to prevent the implementation of an economic system based on State intervention or State planning. The existing constitutional rules are based upon the primacy of the individual and individual rights and freedoms, as the foundations for the constitutional system. These rules limit State power to a subsidiary role, according to which it may act only in cases when individuals or groups of people are unable or unwilling to act.

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