Simón Ballesteros is Conducting Research in Chile on the Constitutional Process with GAI Support
With the support of the Georgetown Americas Institute, PhD candidate Simón Ballesteros from the department of Government is conducting an investigation into how the political elites of Chile have defined the characteristics of the last two constitutional processes (2019-2022 and 2023).
Simón has already conducted fieldwork in Chile and will fly to Santiago once more in November-December after the next constitutional referendum with GAI support. Simón traveled to Chile twice in 2023 in January-March and July-August. In both cases he interviewed several political actors: politicians, University professors, and other intellectuals. His main goal is to understand how political elites defined the characteristics of the last two constitution-making processes (2019-2022 and 2023). For that, he is using the process-tracing method, which is a qualitative method of analysis that allows him to understand the causal sequence of events that lead to a specific outcome.
Interviews will be the main source to test the causal sequence of events, although he will also use other primary and secondary sources. He has already interviewed 15 people (10 high-rank politicians and 5 professors-intellectuals). Before traveling again to Chile in November-December, he expects to interview five more politicians using Zoom. The next visit to Chile will be important because it will take place after the next referendum on the proposed draft of the second constitutional convention. With the information he collects he plans to write a journal article about the Chilean case.
