The Revolutionary Election of 1891 in Chile

Abstract This chapter examines the relationship between Chile’s electoral process and the revolution that toppled liberal President José Manuel Balmaceda in 1891. This in turn precipitated the final crisis of the presidential regime itself, along with its replacement by a parliamentary system of government. The armed conflict that erupted in 1891 preceded the elections themselves. Furthermore, Balmaceda’s administration carried out not one but two elections amid civil war. The revolutionary forces that ultimately prevailed also immediately convened general elections to re-establish the constitutionality of the new parliamentary regime. The chapter proposes a revised understanding of the revolutionary character of the electoral process in 1891.