Attributions of ideas and constituent process in Chile: qualitative study on consensus building in times of uncertainty

  • Luciano Sáez Fuentealba Diego Portales University
  • Ismael Puga Rayo Central University of Chile
  • Ana Figueiredo Mateus University of O'Higgins
  • Monica Gerber Plüss Diego Portales University
  • Francisca Gutiérrez Austral University of Chile
  • Cristóbal Moya Bielefeld University
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5209/poso.97490
Keywords: Ideology, Social Consensus, Vote, Constitutional Plebiscite in Chile
Agencies: National Research and Development Agency of Chile (ANID) FONDECYT Regular 2022 Project nº 1221107, ANID Exploración Project n° 13220187, Center for Conflict and Social Cohesion Studies, CONICYT/FONDAP/1523A0005, Scholarship support from the National Research and Development Agency of Chile (ANID/National Doctorate/2023-21231948).

Abstract

This article aims to analyze how individuals attribute ideas and political preferences to other groups within Chilean society. In particular, we focus on attitudes towards constitutional processes and their role in political consensus-building. Through exploratory qualitative research, we conducted nine focus groups with individuals from different social classes in various regions of the country (North, Central, and South Chile), probing how people in Chilean society attribute positions on different contentious dimensions to others. Through a vignette classification exercise, we identified the main mechanisms for making these attributions to third parties. Based on this analysis, we highlight the role of voting as a central criterion in how people perceive others' political ideas, considering social class and ethnicity as additional determinants. We discuss the implications of this finding for the construction of social and political consensus.

Author Biographies

Luciano Sáez Fuentealba, Diego Portales University

Ph.D. student in Social Sciences at Diego Portales University. He is a researcher at the Observatory of Violence and Social Legitimacy (OLES) and the Observatory of Inequalities at the same institution. He is currently a co-investigator of the ANID-Exploration project “Legitimacy of Police in Chile: The Causal Effect of Violence and Corruption from a Multi-actor, Longitudinal, and Multi-methods Perspective (2022-2025).” He is the editor of the book “Mientras llega la alegría. Transiciones inconclusas en las relaciones cívico-policiales (1990-1994)” (Tesis XXI, 2023) and co-author of the article “Legitimacy, Justice, and Justification of Intergroup Violence between Carabineros and Protesters in Chile” (Psykhé, 2023).

Ismael Puga Rayo, Central University of Chile

Ph.D. in Sociology from Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany. Sociologist and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economics, Government, and Communications at Central University of Chile. He is the director of the Doctorate in Advanced Social Studies (DESA) at the same institution. His research integrates empirical and theoretical work on collective action and protest, the legitimation of inequalities and capitalist social relations, and the problem of ideology, among other topics. These studies combine qualitative and quantitative methods and have been published in journals such as Social Forces, Feminist Economics, International Sociology Review, Social Movement Studies, Latin American Research Review, and the Journal of Politics in Latin America. He currently leads the ANID/Fondecyt Project “Legitimation, Ideology, and Contentious Collective Action” and is a co-investigator of the ANID-Exploration project “Legitimacy of Police in Chile: The Causal Effect of Violence and Corruption from a Multi-actor, Longitudinal, and Multi-methods Perspective (2022-2025).

Ana Figueiredo Mateus, University of O'Higgins

Associate Professor at the University of O'Higgins (Chile). Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Coimbra. She is an associate researcher at the Center for Conflict and Social Cohesion Studies (COES, Chile) and a researcher at the Observatory of Violence and Social Legitimacy (OLES). She is a co-investigator of the ANID-Exploration project “Legitimacy of Police in Chile: The Causal Effect of Violence and Corruption from a Multi-actor, Longitudinal, and Multi-methods Perspective (2022-2025)” and a co-investigator of the ANID/Fondecyt project “Legitimation, Ideology, and Contentious Collective Action.” Her research interests include historical representations, ideology, historical conflicts, intergroup relations, cultural adaptation dynamics, and violence and collective action.

Monica Gerber Plüss, Diego Portales University

Full Professor at the Faculty of Psychology at Diego Portales University. Ph.D. in Social Research Methods from the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. She is currently an associate researcher at the Center for Conflict and Social Cohesion Studies (COES) and the Observatory of Violence and Social Legitimacy (OLES). Her research interests focus on social and political psychology, intergroup relations, political ideologies, attitudes towards social justice and inequality, criminal punishment, and intergroup violence. She has a strong interest in quantitative and experimental research methodologies, as well as quantitative data analysis. She currently leads the ANID-Exploration project “Legitimacy of Police in Chile: The Causal Effect of Violence and Corruption from a Multi-actor, Longitudinal, and Multi-methods Perspective (2022-2025)” and is a co-investigator of the ANID/Fondecyt project “Legitimation, Ideology, and Contentious Collective Action."

Francisca Gutiérrez , Austral University of Chile

Ph.D. in Sociology from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS, Paris). Expert in labor policies, work, labor relations, and gender. She is currently an Associate Researcher at the Center for Conflict and Social Cohesion Studies (COES). She is the Principal Investigator of the project “Work Process in Digital Delivery Platforms” (FONDECYT Regular 1210338) and a co-investigator of the ANID/Fondecyt project “Legitimation, Ideology, and Contentious Collective Action.” Her research focuses on the Sociology of Work, Labor Relations, Labor Policies, Management Sociology, Social Movements, and Gender.

Cristóbal Moya, Bielefeld University

He is a researcher at Bielefeld University (Germany). He is a co-investigator of the ANID-Exploration project “Legitimacy of Police in Chile: The Causal Effect of Violence and Corruption from a Multi-actor, Longitudinal, and Multi-methods Perspective (2022-2025)” and a co-investigator of the ANID/Fondecyt project “Legitimation, Ideology, and Contentious Collective Action.”

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Published
2026-07-24
How to Cite
Sáez Fuentealba, L., Puga Rayo, I., Figueiredo Mateus, A., Gerber Plüss, M., Gutiérrez , F., & Moya, C. (2026). Attributions of ideas and constituent process in Chile: qualitative study on consensus building in times of uncertainty. Política Y Sociedad, 63(2), e97490. https://doi.org/10.5209/poso.97490
Issue
Vol. 63 No. 2 (2026)
Section
Miscelaneus

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