Multilevel Governance and Chilean Paradiplomacy: Central Control and Regional Projection in the Energy Transition

Abstract

This article analyzes the contemporary configuration of Chilean paradiplomacy in the context of the global energy transition, identifying its institutional mechanisms, territorial articulation, and main socio-environmental tensions. Using a political economy and institutional approach, it examines the integration of subnational actors, regions, municipalities, and ethnocultural communities into globalization and energy transition dynamics. The findings show a multilevel governance system in which the central government retains strategic supremacy while delegating specialized functions to territories such as Antofagasta, Magallanes, and northern border regions. The analysis also highlights the emergence of socio-environmental tensions and bottom-up paradiplomacy promoted by indigenous communities. In conclusion, the Chilean case shows that unitary states can combine central control and subnational autonomy to address challenges related to energy and sustainability.