Its ideological origins date back to Guzmán's Guildist Movement, born out of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in 1966, espousing the independence and depoliticization of intermediate bodies of civil society.

[14][15] The social-conservative faction is characterised by its political work in poor sectors,[14] while the liberal-conservative faction is characterised by its connections to Chile's business class,[14] its links to think tanks such as Libertad y Desarrollo (LyD),[15] and its training of young political leaders, often students from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (PUC)[14] such as Jaime Bellolio or Javier Macaya.

Jaime Guzmán criticized liberal democracy and sought inspiration in authoritarian corporatism, proposing the principle of subsidiarity and to invigorate intermediate social movements, by the way that these were independent to develop their own specific purposes.

Well into the government of Salvador Allende, some young members of the National Party and the Christian Democrats became part of the Gremialismo Movement of Jaime Guzmán.

Amid the growing economic crisis of the time, UDI engaged in empowering leaders in the countryside and peripheral neighbourhoods that would help extend its influence in the middle and lower classes.

Allamand stayed in charge of National Renewal, while Jaime Guzman managed to register a new political party: the Independent Democratic Union in 1989.

After the "Yes" option was defeated and presidential elections were announced, the UDI joined National Renewal and formed the "Democracy and Progress" alliance (Democracia y Progreso).

The UDI's option lost the 1989 presidential election, this time against the center-left Concertación's leader, the Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin.

By 1990, Guzman was positioned as the leader of the opposition and was one of the harshest critics of the new democratic government, accusing it of softness in the fight against left-wing armed organizations which kept operating in Chile after the restoration of restricted democracy.

In 1999, Joaquín Lavín, the mayor of Las Condes and member of UDI, was proclaimed as the Alliance for Chile candidate for the presidential election.

Of these numerous meetings, arose the document "Peace Now" ("La Paz Ahora"), which sought to give a sign of national reconciliation.

In 2005, UDI selected Joaquín Lavín for presidential elections again, but National Renewal launched its own candidate, the millionaire businessman and former senator Sebastián Piñera.

In December 2008, the highest party leaders decided to forgo the option to offer the country a UDI presidential candidate and provided support for Piñera's candidacy in order to avoid a fifth consecutive Concertacion government.

Sebastián Piñera, the candidate of the Coalition for Change, was elected President of the Republic of Chile on January 17, 2010, in runoff against Senator Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle.

The party's influence in the government forced the Piñera administration to have a conservative shift on educational, economic and cultural issues, having a moderate approach on social policy like maternity leave, taxes and civil unions for same-sex couples and directly opposing any kind of therapeutic abortion legalization.

The Independent Democratic Union played a main role in the opposition against Bachelet's second administration in congress, stating disagreement and rejecting the main reforms on the tax system, change the electoral system, eliminating for-profit education, reforming labour laws, allowing same-sex marriage and decriminalizing abortion in the cases of rape, fetal inviability and in case of serious risk of the mother's life and health and a project change to the constitution.