La política como profesión: Cambio partidario y transformación social de la élite política en Chile, 1961-2006

the paper seeks to deepen our understanding of the relationship between the social composition of the chilean political elite and party change. based on a case study of deputies elected between 1961 and 2005, the article explores factors which have determined party change in the post-authoritarian period, concentrating empirically on transformations in the composition of parliamentary elites with regard to their social characteristics and political trajectory. it is argued that these transformations reflect the tensions that tendencies towards professionalization and democratization have created for chilean political parties.