THE ORGANIZATION OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AT LOCAL LEVEL: THE PROVINCE OF COQUIMBO, CHILE, IN THE 1820’S

Abstract

The aim of this article is to reflect on the process of State-building in Chile at a local level, in the province of Coquimbo. The analysis has been centered on the institutional organization and forming of public administration, because we think that these phenomena are an ideal area to study the tensions, challenges, contradictions and obstacles that took place during the first years of that process. Specifically, the following questions are addressed: how is public administration conformed at a provincial level; which are the challenges faced by the government to implement this administration in the province of Coquimbo? which are its main characteristics in the years after independence? And lastly, what do they tell us about the process of State-building?