On July 13, 1973, President Salvador Allende Gossens decreed the creation of the Cardenal Caro Department with Marchigüe its capital.

[1] However, the coup d'état that occurred in September of that year made the decree "dead text".

[1] It was named in honour of José María Caro Rodríguez, the first Chilean Roman Catholic Cardinal, who was born in Ciruelos near the province's capital city of Pichilemu.

As a province, Cardenal Caro is a second-level administrative division of Chile, governed by a provincial delegate who is appointed by the president.

Carlos Ortega Bahamondes, originally appointed as governor in 2018, was confirmed as presidential provincial delegate by president Sebastián Piñera on 14 July 2021.