Abstract

Presidentialism has been widely studied in Latin America. Nonetheless, its impact on the policy making remains largely unexplored. This article analyzes the role and influence played by ministries and informal rules in the case of Chilean childhood policy reform (2014-2018), elaborated in a presidential system with a fairly institutionalized center of government. The methodological approach is mainly based on a set of in-depth interviews. The results show that in a first moment informal rules overlap formal ones whereas in a second moment there is a decoupling between formal institutions and informal rules, with Ministries playing a larger role. The conclusion is reached that the relation between formal and informal institutions is not static, but it responds to dynamic balances of power. Therefore, article aims to reflect on the role of informal rules to understand public policy-making in presidential regimes, as well as the need for discussing alternatives to institutionalize the center of government.