The Observatory of Politics and Social Networks of the Central University (UCEN) stressed that opinions among people are divided regarding the approval or disapproval of the new Constitution proposal. In this same context, they highlight that during the previous government of Sebastián Piñera the need arose to create a new constitutional text in the context of a social explosion.
Almost two years have passed to date after the national plebiscite held in October 2020, and perceptions towards the work of the convention have not been without criticism, despite the high expectations of the constituent process expressed in the high turnout of the plebiscite. with 50.9% and the numerous approval of the new constitution with 78.27%. However, the first week of the publication of the constitutional draft, the situation changed considerably, lowering its approval. According to the Cadem survey, a Chilean market research and public opinion company, 37% approve of the draft, 17% are undecided and 46% oppose its publication.
And while it is true that the different conjunctural episodes have, in part, negatively favored the evaluation of the convention, it is also correct to identify which part of the conversation generates that the process is being spoken of badly. In this sense, from the UCEN observatory, in its report entitled “First draft and the Constitutional Convention: its impact on the Digital Political Territory”, they detail that there is a strong influence of messages that do not refer directly to the draft itself or to the work that has given in the different commissions, but rather, it focuses on conjunctural issues or even “political entertainment”.
According to the broadcast of the conversation, Internet users value the convention negatively with 49%, however, only 3% refer to or talk about the draft, while 97% only report on the convention.
“The reason for this phenomenon is due to the controversies and controversies in which the constituents have been involved since the beginning of the process, situations such as that of Rojas Vade contributes to the doubt of the quality of the constituents and, therefore, Likewise, the extension of the term for the publication or the extraordinary commission carried out in the city of Antofagasta, these are events that have contributed to the increase in mistrust towards the institutions, disbelief that should be reduced with the creation of the draft “, they point out from the Observatory of Politics and Social Networks of the UCEN.
Regarding the most mentioned topics in the conversation of the digital political territory, they were fundamental rights with 1.3%, where they rejected the health and pension system, while 0.5% of democracy referred to the right to property, concluding with 0.5% in the justice system alluding to children’s rights.
In short, with the publication of the draft, social networks were activated, where the most frequently mentioned terms in the conversation about the convention are the following:
In the context of the most mentioned topics, four words stood out, such as “Draft”, “New”, “Rejection” and “Constitutional”. Along this same line, it was evident that the first word is the most alluded to because there is a conversation about voting informed, about reading the draft. Also, there is little difference in the conversation between what is approval and rejection. Regarding the above, “one can make a guess about what the September plebiscite will be like, where a narrow difference is expected at the polls.”
Finally, the mention of the constituents in the cloud makes a link with what was discussed in image three, since during the process the assessment of the constituents from the beginning has been negative, obtaining various criticisms in its production and the lack of of seriousness in the process, which has been a relevant factor in the drop in its estimate.
Now, the most mentioned words or terms within the constitutional draft:
The most recurrent terms are found within the constitutional draft, among them are: “Rights”, “Regions”, “Justice” and “Participation”. The foregoing is related to the demands of the population, the social rights that should be enshrined in the constitution, greater autonomy and participation of the regions, justice that has always been in question and, in addition, citizen participation.
In this way, the need arises after having information on the most mentioned terms, to know the assessment of this draft:
After the delivery of the draft of the new political constitution of Chile to the citizens, Internet users expressed themselves with 47% of the conversation in a neutral tone, that is, they did not hold a position on the subject. In this same framework, a large amount of informative conversation about the process or simply to instruct people about what is being discussed is detected, for example, in days of deliberation on the draft using the hashtag #nuevaconstitución frequently, the The number of neutrals is reflected in the people who have not yet taken a stand for their decision, which may be because they have not read the draft or simply are not interested in it.
It is necessary to mention that, regardless of the discontent of the population towards the constituents, the percentage of acceptance is 39%. While their counterpart is 14%, mainly alluding to the use of profanity and denigration towards the process, in both cases they are championed by the hashtags #apruebodesalida and #exit rejection.
Regarding the categorization, with the nine topics that are part of the draft and that were analyzed in the conversation, “others” significantly highlighted that in this case the discussion goes beyond the draft. Therefore, the process is informative, similar to what is analyzed in the percentage of neutrals in the graph of image six. Similarly, the conversation about democracy stands out, which tends to be more common, since it is what the draft raises.
The Observatory of Politics and Social Networks of the UCEN called the attention of highlighting the topic of the environment with 0.4%, since in recent years the topic has been in constant conversation to position itself within the issues of importance. Also, 2.1% mention the rights of indigenous peoples, where there is a polarization on the subject with a diversity of tweets that support a constitution that includes indigenous peoples in it. However, a part of the tweets indicates that it is a hoax for indigenous peoples.
“Consequently, after the analysis it can be determined that the convention is less valued than the draft, due to the controversies and controversies in which the constituents have been involved since the beginning of the process. Now, the conversation about the new constitution has been extensive before and after the constitutional draft”.
Within the cloud of words about the new Magna Carta of the country, they highlighted main concepts such as: “I approve”, “I reject”, “Read” and “All”, it is possible to link these words with the vote that will be generated as a result of the Plebiscite of Departure on Sunday, September 4, 2022. Situation in which it is essential that citizens read this new constitution so that they can vote in an informed manner. Since, being close to the publication of the second part of the draft, it is necessary to be informed for its better understanding.
It is worth mentioning that, based on the data analyzed, both the government cabinet and President Gabriel Boric issue digital messages regarding the new constituent process. Both parties express approval of the Constitutional Convention process as well as of the new constitution.
Within the digital communication of the President of Chile, Gabriel Boric, the concentration of 4% of the emission of messages related to the work of the Constitutional Convention was evidenced. Regarding their communication on Twitter, it represents a low percentage of attention. However, his content on this body is varied and mainly his messages are aimed at supporting the process and delivering various aid from his position as president, managing to obtain 40%. In turn, in this same direction, the president has joined the pedagogical efforts on the constituent work, providing relevant information on the process to citizens, a situation that is reflected with 24%. Finally, another important point to highlight is the support for the fight against false news and disinformation that have been generated about the work of the constituent body, having 9%, the same work that different conventional ones have implemented.
Likewise, President Boric’s tweet can be highlighted, which had a greater acceptance and diffusion on the platform, where he refers to the support he gives towards the constituent process and encouraging citizens to participate in the instances to debate.
From the government portfolios, the constituent communication is not far behind, since the different ministers have dedicated part of their messages on Twitter to the process.
The new mandate of President Gabriel Boric and the establishment of a new ministerial cabinet have affected, in a certain way, the acceptance of the constitutional convention. The foregoing is due to the fact that since the creation of the commissions, only three of their ministers have dedicated a significant percentage (compared to the rest) to talk about the constituent process before the draft came out.
On the one hand, the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Marcela Rios, led with 20% with communication on the constituent process, who through her social networks referred to issues, such as, for example, the strengthening and modernization of institutions. Also, she mentioned the facilitation of access to justice for all from parity and plurinationality.
One of his most important Tweets on the subject is related to one of the milestones of the convention, the first 6 months of work and a message of encouragement and thanks to the direction of the body at that time.
On the other hand, the Minister of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, Julieta Brodsky, obtained 12% of conversation about the constituent process in her broadcast, where she stressed the importance of the principle of decentralization as well as local knowledge and cultures, which which links her directly to the portfolio that she would assume later from the government.
At the same time, one of his most relevant tweets on the social network is related to his participation in conventional work and a show of support for the process.
Finally, with 9%, the Minister of National Assets, Javiera Toro, emphasized collaboration to face the housing emergency and advance in the restitution of indigenous lands.
While in one of his most recent messages on the Constitutional Convention he shows signs of support for the process from an informative function, rejecting the use of false news to delegitimize the body and its results, in said tweet he links his message to the words of the leader.
However, there were five ministers who remained on the sidelines of the constituent work, going so far as not to publish or issue comments on the process, including Mario Marcel, Minister of Finance, part of the political committee of the Boric government.
