This work analyses the Chilean decentralization process by performing a thorough revision of press sources regarding the political debate revolving on decentralizing bills passed between 1991 and 2005. The study describes both the actors and the context in which reforms were approved in Chilean congress. In discussing the literature on the politics of decentralization, this paper confirms the relevance of two existing hypotheses: the effects of democratization, and the prospects of electoral performance. At the same time, it reassesses a third theory concerning decentralization as a topdown process by stressing the mayors’ increasing power in Chilean politics. In addition, this paper provides a novel systematization of municipal and regional electoral results, by party and by coalition,
for the period under study.