The origins of the party go back to the 1930s, when the
Conservative Party split between traditionalist and social-Christian sectors. In 1935, the social-Christians split from the Conservative Party to form the
Falange Nacional (National Phalanx), a more socially oriented and centrist group. The Falange Nacional showed their centrist policies by supporting leftist
Juan Antonio Ríos (
Radical Party of Chile) in the 1942 presidential elections but
Conservative Eduardo Cruz-Coke in the 1946 elections. Despite the creation of the Falange Nacional, many social-Christians remained in the Conservative Party, which in 1949 split into the Social Christian Conservative Party and the Traditionalist Conservative Party. On July 28, 1957, primarily to back the presidential candidacy of
Eduardo Frei Montalva, the Falange Nacional,
Social Christian Conservative Party, and other like-minded groups joined to form the Christian Democratic Party. Frei lost the elections, but presented his candidacy again in 1964, this time also supported by the right-wing parties. That year, Frei triumphed with 56% of the vote. Despite right-wing backing for his candidacy, Frei declared his planned social revolution would not be hampered by this support. In 1970,
Radomiro Tomic, leader of the left-wing faction of the party, was nominated to the presidency, but lost to socialist
Salvador Allende. The Christian Democrat vote was crucial in the Congressional confirmation of Allende's election, since he had received less than the necessary 50%. Although the Christian Democratic Party voted to confirm Allende's election, they declared themselves as part opposition because of Allende's economic policy. By 1973, Allende had lost the support of most Christian Democrats (except for Tomic's left-wing faction), some of whom even began calling for the military to step in. By the time of Pinochet's coup, most Christian Democrats applauded the military takeover, believing that the government would quickly be turned over to them by the military. Once it became clear that Pinochet had no intention of relinquishing power, the Christian Democrats went into opposition. During the 1981 plebiscite where Chilean voted to extend Pinochet's term for eight more years,
Eduardo Frei Montalva led the only authorized opposition rally. When political parties were legalized again, the Christian Democratic Party, together with most left-wing parties, agreed to form the Coalition of Parties for the No, which opposed Pinochet's reelection on the 1988 plebiscite. This coalition later became
Coalition of Parties for Democracy once Pinochet stepped down from power and held together until 2010s.
Transition to democracy During the first years of the return to democracy, the Christian Democrats enjoyed wide popular support. Presidents
Patricio Aylwin and
Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle were both from that party, and it was also the largest party in Congress. However, the Christian Democrat
Andrés Zaldívar lost the
Coalition of Parties for Democracy 1999 primaries to socialist
Ricardo Lagos. In the parliamentary elections of 2005, the Christian Democrats lost eight seats in Congress, and the right-wing
Independent Democratic Union became the largest party in the legislative body. The Christian Democrats lost its influence to the socialists after
Michelle Bachelet became president. For much of the 1990s and 2000s the party contained three main factions; "Guatones", "Chascones" and "Colorines" (lit. Fatsos, Disheveleds and
Redheads). The Colorines owed their name to the hair color of
Adolfo Zaldívar and were the right-wing faction of the party. The Christian Democrats left the Nueva Mayoría coalition on 29 April 2017 and nominated then-party president
Carolina Goic as their candidate for the
2017 presidential election. The Nueva Mayoria has struggled to remain united as differences have opened up within the coalition over approaches to a government reform drive, including changes to the labour code and attempted reform of Chile's strict abortion laws. In 2020, all Christian Democrats senators voted in favour of
same-sex marriage. In 2020, the party gave its support for "Approve" in the
2020 Chilean national plebiscite. After the
2019–2021 Chilean protests most of La
Nueva Mayoria including the PDC regrouped to form
Constituent Unity and participated in the
2021 constitutional convention election (as
The Approval List) and the
2021 gubernatorial elections. After those elections the group renamed to
New Social Pact to participate in the
2021 general election, PDC senator
Yasna Provoste was chosen as the coalition's candidate, coming in 5th place with 11.6% of the vote. After she lost the first round the PDC supported
Gabriel Boric for the second round, in which Boric won the election. After Boric won the election, most of the New Social Pact parties supported joining Boric's government, on the other hand the Christian Democrat's president, Ximena Rincon, said that the party would be a "constructive opposition" and said that any member joining the government should have to resign to the party. After this the PDC was excluded from the new coalition
"Democratic Socialism".
2022 crisis The official support of the party for the "Approve" option in the
2022 Chilean national plebiscite has led a severe internal division, with various members openly supporting the "Reject" option and subsequent calls for them to be expelled. Some historic figures, like
René Cortázar,
Soledad Alvear,
Gutenberg Martínez and
José Pablo Arellano left the party by their own initiative to join
Cristián Warnken's
Amarillos movement.
Ximena Rincón and
Matías Walker left the party in October 2022 to form the political movement
Demócratas together with
Carlos Maldonado and others. Also in October, Governor of
Santiago Metropolitan Region Claudio Orrego left the party.
Fuad Chahín, who was
president of the party from 2018 to 2021, was suspended from the party in early November 2022. === Suspension from the
ODCA === In 2025, the party controversially endorsed presidential candidate
Jeannette Jara, member of the
Communist Party of Chile, in the
2025 Chilean general election. This prompted the organization to suspend the party on August 9, 2025, as "the
Communist Party of Chile has ideological affinities with authoritarian regimes responsible for human rights violations, such as those in
Venezuela,
Cuba, and
Nicaragua. This support not only contradicts the historical legacy of Christian Humanism in Chile, but also undermines the ODCA's international credibility as a defender of democracy and republican values." ==Presidents elected under Christian Democratic Party==