Jorge Heine, research professor at the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, and a former Chilean government cabinet minister: “Ever since the social uprising of Oct. 18, 2019, and despite the pandemic and a recession, Chile followed a strict institutional path to reach a fairer and more inclusive new social pact. Why this seemingly counterintuitive outcome? A critical turning point was the decision by the Chilean Congress to allow independent candidates to run in the equivalent of party lists for the constitutional convention. This led to the election of vast numbers of delegates with no experience, little expertise and no accountability to party discipline. They reveled in identity politics (one of them, who faked having cancer, was almost elected president of the convention), took months to start drafting a new charter, and otherwise made fools of themselves. By the time they came up with a text, the damage had been done, and the convention had lost much credibility. The far-too-long text (388 articles), would have abolished the Chilean Senate, weakened the judiciary and…”