Politics of Venezuela

The politics of Venezuela are conducted under what is nominally a federal presidential republic, but is in practice an authoritarian system of government.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] Prior to the early 1990s, Venezuela was considered an unusually long-standing and stable liberal democracy in Latin America, having transitioned to democracy in 1958.^[1]^[2]^[5] According to the V-Dem Democracy indices Venezuela was in 2023 the third least electoral democratic country in Latin America.^[3]^[4]

After the victory of socialist populist Hugo Chávez in the 1998 presidential election, Venezuela gradually underwent democratic backsliding before transitioning to an authoritarian system of government where political and civil rights are not protected, and elections are not free and fair.^[6]^[1]^[5]^[7]^[8]^[9] Under Chávez's rule and later under the rule of his successor Nicolás Maduro, power has been concentrated in the hands of the executive, institutional checks and balances have been undermined, independent media have been repressed, and opposition forces have been marginalized in governing institutions, such as congress, courts, oversight agencies, the state-owned petroleum company (PDVSA), and the military.^[1]^[2]^[10]^[7]

Politics are polarized between supporters of President Nicolás Maduro, organized as the United Socialist Party (PSUV) and the Great Patriotic Pole, and several opposition parties. Opposition parties and opposition candidates have regularly been banned from contesting elections.^[1] At other times, opposition parties have boycotted national elections, citing their undemocratic nature.^[1]

The PSUV was created in 2007, uniting a number of smaller parties supporting Hugo Chávez's Bolivarian Revolution with Chávez's Fifth Republic Movement. PSUV and its forerunners have held the presidency since 1998, and the legislature during most of that time. The Democratic Unity Roundtable (Mesa de la Unidad Democrática, MUD), created in 2008, unites much of the opposition (A New Era (UNT), Project Venezuela, Justice First, Movement for Socialism (Venezuela) and others). Hugo Chávez, the central figure of the Venezuelan political landscape since his election to the Presidency in 1998 as a political outsider, died in office in early 2013, and was succeeded by Maduro (initially as interim President, before narrowly winning the 2013 Venezuelan presidential election).

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Gamboa, Laura, ed. (2022), ""Chávez Vete Ya": The Erosion of Democracy in Venezuela", Resisting Backsliding: Opposition Strategies against the Erosion of Democracy, Cambridge University Press, pp. 98–128, doi:10.1017/9781009164085.004, ISBN 978-1-009-16408-5, Up until the 1990s, Venezuela was one of the longest-running and most stable uninterrupted liberal democracies in Latin America. Today, it is an authoritarian regime. In nineteen years, Hugo Chávez and his successor, Nicolás Maduro, managed to destroy the system of checks and balances, end free and fair elections, and terminate political rights and civil liberties. The government has delayed and canceled elections, circumvented the authority of the elected legislature, imprisoned political opponents without trial, used lethal force against protesters, and banned opposition parties.
^ ^a ^b ^c Roberts, Kenneth M. (2012), Mudde, Cas; Rovira Kaltwasser, Cristóbal (eds.), "Populism and democracy in Venezuela under Hugo Chávez", Populism in Europe and the Americas: Threat or Corrective for Democracy?, Cambridge University Press, pp. 136–159, doi:10.1017/cbo9781139152365.008, ISBN 978-1-107-02385-7
^ ^a ^b V-Dem Institute (2023). "The V-Dem Dataset". Retrieved 14 October 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Venezuela profile - Timeline". BBC News. 19 September 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
^ ^a ^b Mainwaring, Scott (2012). "From Representative Democracy to Participatory Competitive Authoritarianism: Hugo Chávez and Venezuelan Politics". Perspectives on Politics. 10 (4): 955–967. doi:10.1017/S1537592712002629. ISSN 1537-5927.
^ Handlin, Samuel, ed. (2017), "Democratic Erosion in Venezuela, Representative Democracy in Brazil", State Crisis in Fragile Democracies: Polarization and Political Regimes in South America, Cambridge University Press, pp. 136–172, doi:10.1017/9781108233682.005, ISBN 978-1-108-41542-2
^ ^a ^b Corrales, Javier (2015). "The Authoritarian Resurgence: Autocratic Legalism in Venezuela". Journal of Democracy.
^ Boersner, Adriana (2021). "The Path Toward Authoritarianism in Venezuela". Oxford Bibliographies.
^ Corrales, Javier (2024), "Venezuela's Autocratization, 1999–2021", When Democracy Breaks, Oxford University Press, pp. 327–350, doi:10.1093/oso/9780197760789.003.0012, ISBN 978-0-19-776078-9
^ Brewer-Carías, Allan R. (2010). Dismantling Democracy in Venezuela: The Chávez Authoritarian Experiment. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-49235-5.

[:5-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Gamboa, Laura, ed. (2022), ""Chávez Vete Ya": The Erosion of Democracy in Venezuela", Resisting Backsliding: Opposition Strategies against the Erosion of Democracy, Cambridge University Press, pp. 98–128, doi:10.1017/9781009164085.004, ISBN 978-1-009-16408-5, Up until the 1990s, Venezuela was one of the longest-running and most stable uninterrupted liberal democracies in Latin America. Today, it is an authoritarian regime. In nineteen years, Hugo Chávez and his successor, Nicolás Maduro, managed to destroy the system of checks and balances, end free and fair elections, and terminate political rights and civil liberties. The government has delayed and canceled elections, circumvented the authority of the elected legislature, imprisoned political opponents without trial, used lethal force against protesters, and banned opposition parties.

[:6-2] Roberts, Kenneth M. (2012), Mudde, Cas; Rovira Kaltwasser, Cristóbal (eds.), "Populism and democracy in Venezuela under Hugo Chávez", Populism in Europe and the Americas: Threat or Corrective for Democracy?, Cambridge University Press, pp. 136–159, doi:10.1017/cbo9781139152365.008, ISBN 978-1-107-02385-7

[vdem_dataset-3] V-Dem Institute (2023). "The V-Dem Dataset". Retrieved 14 October 2023.

[:7-4] "Venezuela profile - Timeline". BBC News. 19 September 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2024.

[:8-5] Mainwaring, Scott (2012). "From Representative Democracy to Participatory Competitive Authoritarianism: Hugo Chávez and Venezuelan Politics". Perspectives on Politics. 10 (4): 955–967. doi:10.1017/S1537592712002629. ISSN 1537-5927.

[6] Handlin, Samuel, ed. (2017), "Democratic Erosion in Venezuela, Representative Democracy in Brazil", State Crisis in Fragile Democracies: Polarization and Political Regimes in South America, Cambridge University Press, pp. 136–172, doi:10.1017/9781108233682.005, ISBN 978-1-108-41542-2

[:9-7] Corrales, Javier (2015). "The Authoritarian Resurgence: Autocratic Legalism in Venezuela". Journal of Democracy.

[8] Boersner, Adriana (2021). "The Path Toward Authoritarianism in Venezuela". Oxford Bibliographies.

[9] Corrales, Javier (2024), "Venezuela's Autocratization, 1999–2021", When Democracy Breaks, Oxford University Press, pp. 327–350, doi:10.1093/oso/9780197760789.003.0012, ISBN 978-0-19-776078-9

[10] Brewer-Carías, Allan R. (2010). Dismantling Democracy in Venezuela: The Chávez Authoritarian Experiment. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-49235-5.

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