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Democracy and Student Discontent: Chilean Student Protest in the Post-Pinochet Era

Author: Peter Cummings

In: Journal of Politics in Latin America, 2015

Cummings notes that despite a significant reduction in poverty levels, and the establishment of political democracy since the end of the Pinochet regime in 1990, there were widespread high school and student protests in 2006 and 2011. These were supported by most of the population and indicated serious discontent. He suggests three main reasons: a gap between student expectations and ability to realize them; their collective sense of identity as a fearless new generation; and the specific interactions between the government and the students.