Parliamentary Republic (Chile)

Republic of Chile
República de Chile
1891–1925
Location of Chile
CapitalSantiago
Common languagesSpanish
Religion
Roman Catholicism (official religion) until 1925
GovernmentUnitary quasi-parliamentary republic
President 
• 1891–1896
Jorge Montt (first)
• 1925–1925
Arturo Alessandri Palma (last)
History 
• Civil War
18 September 1891
18 September 1925
CurrencyChilean peso
ISO 3166 codeCL
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Liberal Republic
Presidential Republic
Former National Congress in Santiago de Chile, ex-seat of the parliamentary power.

The Parliamentary Era in Chile began in 1891, at the end of the Civil War, and spanned until 1925 and the establishment of the 1925 Constitution. Also called "pseudo-parliamentary" period or "Parliamentary Republic", this period was thus named because it established a quasi-parliamentary system based on the interpretation of the 1833 Constitution following the defeat of President José Manuel Balmaceda during the Civil War. As opposed to a "true parliamentary" system, the executive was not subject to the legislative power but checks and balances of executive over the legislature were weakened. The President remained the head of state but its powers and control of the government were reduced. The Parliamentary Republic lasted until the 1925 Constitution drafted by President Arturo Alessandri and his minister José Maza. The new Constitution created a presidential system, which lasted, with several modifications, until the 1973 coup d'état.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Chile temporarily resolved its border disputes with Argentina with the Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina, the Puna de Atacama Lawsuit of 1899 and the Cordillera of the Andes Boundary Case, 1902.