El rol de las encuestas en las elecciones de 2005. Selección de candidatos presidenciales en Chile

The article analyzes changes in the formation of presidential leadership in Chile since the unprecedented role played by the opinion polls as a mechanism for selection and announcement of the flag and presidential candidates in the parties and coalitions in the period 2000-2005. The first section reviews conceptual issues and the debate about political leadership in the democracy focused on the media. Then, it analyzes the theoretical and empirical relationship between public opinion configured from the surveys and political leadership. The third section discusses whether you can apply the category of media democracy to the Chilean case, to finally address the explosion of the surveys and their role in the formation of political leadership ahead of presidential elections in 2005.