Legitimization of the 1980’s Constitution in El Mercurio, 1980-1986

Abstract

This article investigates the primary discursive strategies utilized by Santiago’s El Mercurio between 1980 and 1986, to legitimize the 1980’s Constitution. For this to be done, a revision of the newspaper’s editorials during emblematic dates and political crises is performed. The analysis permits the identification of two general discursive strategies, the first of which is called, “Progress”, and the second, “Demon and Truth”. Finally, a theoretical discussion is performed, where the results of the analysis are confronted with conceptual elaborations of the most relevant authors who deal with the issue of legitimization: Max Weber, Carl Schmitt, Jürgen Habermas, Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann.