How is the Chilean Constitution Linked to Brown v. Board?

It is well known, and much is made of, the influence of the Chicago School, Los Chicago Boys, in designing a whole new economy for Chile after the Pinochet coup in 1973, based on its worship of "free market" capitalism. Called an "economic miracle" by conservatives, it became quickly clear that the miracle was actually a disaster for average Chileans. Over the next 40 years Chileans have been trying to reverse many of these changes, but have been unsuccessful in many cases because of barriers in their Constitution.

An article here mentions briefly that the current version of the Chilean Constitution stemmed from Pinochet's coup. Another author notes that the Constitution was "drafted" by Jaime Guzmán in 1980. This is true on the surface, but there were many others involved, including Jose Pinera, who was instrumental in destroying industry-wide labor unions. But the US was heavily involved in this as well.

James M. Buchanan was a hard-right economist (more of a political economist) focused on "public choice" theory, and wrote a book for which he won a Nobel. He was given his own department at the University of Virginia. He was also associated with organizations like the Mont Pelerin Society and economists like F. A. Hayek. He became apoplectic about Brown v. Board and a major focus over the rest of his career was undoing that decision via policies such as school vouchers. Much of his success and his influence was an offshoot of his work trying to reimpose segregation in American education.

While the Chicago Boys were designing a free-market economy, Buchanan flew down to help revamp their political system to ensure the success of the new economy. This required a major shift in emphasis from human rights in favor of property rights. Buchanan was a key advisor to Pinochet, and his proposals permeated the revised constitution, which was finally adopted in 1980.

In 1988 the Chilean electorate rose up in a massive electoral campaign and unseated Pinochet and he stepped down in 1990. Yet for the last 30 years they have not been able to make human rights modifications to the economy or the political system because of private property guarantees in the Constitution. They have tried, but have been largely unsuccessful. The work that Buchanan did was instrumental in securing the property economy even after the dictator was sent packing. This is, undoubtedly, the reason for the latest push for a new Constitution.

Ironically, the problems faced by the Chilean people are similar to those faced by the American people today. And not only are many of our economic problems similar to theirs, but the solutions face the same Constitutional roadblocks. Unfortunately, chances of a new Constitution in America are almost nil.

For a deeper dive on this, check out "Democracy in Chains", by Nancy MacLean.