Abstract

This article analyzes the historical development of Chilean congressional leadership offices (1834-1924), while testing a proposition of the theory of legislative institutionalization that says that legislatures gradually move toward greater boundedness over time. The indicator of boundedness is the length of the apprenticeship of congressional leaders. Lateral entry, short office tenure, and returning leaders became distinctive features in the case at hand. Institutional design and exchanges between the legislature and the environment determine legislative institutionalization, so a legislature insti-tutionalizes by acquiring stability, permanence, distinctiveness, and sustainability in a polity.