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The current Political Constitution of the Republic of Chile, approved by Chilean voters in a controversial plebiscite on September 11, 1980, under the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, partially effective March 11, 1981, fully effective 11 March 1990 and amended considerably on August 17, 1989 (via referendum) and on September 22, 2005 (legislatively), and also in 1991, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, replaced the earlier constitution of 1925. It is Chile's eighth constitution.
Contents
Legitimacy
According to law professor, Camel Cazor Aliste, the Constitution of 1980 has problems of legitimacy stemming from two facts: First, the writing commission was not representative of the political spectrum of Chile. Its members were hand-picked by the dictatorship of Pinochet and deliberately excluded opponents of the regime. Secondly, the constitution "approval" was achieved through the controversial and tightly government-controlled referendum of 1980.