Making environmental law for the market: the emergence, character, and implications of Chile's environmental regime

Abstract

As one of the earliest and deepest cases of neoliberal reform, Chile's political economic model has been the subject of extensive debate. The associated environmental law and policy that emerged in this context has, however, received little attention. The country's environmental policymaking process as well as the character and effects of the environmental regime that emerged are examined. Environmental policymaking has been tightly constrained by institutional and political arrangements that embody neoliberal principles such that legislation only advances when internal demands connect up with global forces. As a result, and despite many regulatory initiatives, the environmental regime expresses a strongly market-enabling quality instead of the market-regulating character commonly ascribed to environmental law and policy.