EL PARTIDO NACIONAL EN CHILE: SU ROL EN EL CONFLICTO POLíTICO (1966-1973)

the objective of this investigation is to analyze the political behavior of the chilean national party and its impact in political conflict during the period lasting from 1966 to 1973. our hypothesis is that the national party was characterized above all by a strong pragmatic attitude. the seven year existence of the party can be classified in different stages: the first stage, with the christian democratic government serving as opposition party, was characterized by electoral recovery. the second stage was primarily marked by the party,s refusal to ratify salvador allende as president of the republic. the next stages occurred within the period of allende,s unidad popular government and can be subdivided into a deslegitimization-phase, a destabilization-phase, and finally the definite break with the government.