Chile's neo-liberal revolution: Incremental decisions and structural transformation, 1973-89

This article analyses the surprising emergence of a comprehensive and coher ent neo-liberal developmental model during the period of military rule in C hile. Rather than reflecting a clear and definitive choice, the political p rocess that produced this model was characterised by hesitation, policy con tradiction, shifting priorities, and incremental choices. This was a result of the military's efforts to deal with two, often conflicting, overarching goals - economic and political stabilisation - as they evolved and were re defined over time. The focus on incremental, iterated decision-making weave s the insights of other explanations based in underlying institutional, coa litional, or ideational factors into a micro-political explanation that is consistent with the substantial variations in policy outcome across differe nt phases of military rule.