The First Chilean National Congress was founded on July 4, 1811, to decide the best kind of government for the Kingdom of Chile during the captivity of King Ferdinand VII in the hands of Napoleon.

[5] The National Congress was closed without an immediate renewal of the members of its two chambers during three periods: 1924-1925, June-October 1932 and 1973-1989.

The LVI legislative period of the Chilean Congress began on March 11, 2022 and will end in 2026.

[6] During the last years of the Pinochet regime, the current building of Congress was built in the port city of Valparaíso, some 140 km west of the country's capital, Santiago.

The binomial system was considered by most analysts as the main constitutional lock that prevented completion of the Chilean transition to democracy.