Political Secularism in Chile from Robert Audi's and Cecile Laborde's Approaches

Abstract

This article explores whether the Chilean State might be considered secular from two alternative approaches: Robert Audi's «institutional separation», and Cecile Laborde's recent «disaggregation approach». Regarding Audi's framework, the study claims that the Chilean State fulfils the libertarian principle, partially meets the requirements of the egalitarian principle, but it does not respect the principle of neutrality, for religiosity and its absence are not valued in the same way by the Chilean political power. Regarding Laborde's framework, the study shows that the Chilean State meets, in general, the requirements of her «minimum secularism» standard. However, some difficulties become evident when state officials employ religious non–public reasons in the legislative forum, thus, violating what Laborde calls the «Justifiable State,» as well as when the government uses forms of symbolic establishment that might affect the equal civic status, thus violating what Laborde calls the «Inclusive State.»