The Unraveling of Representative Democracy in Venezuela

In this volume of essays, leading scholars from Venezuela and the United States ask why representative democracy in Venezuela unraveled so swiftly and whether it can be restored. Its thirteen chapters examine the crisis in three periods: the unraveling of Punto Fijo democracy; Chavez’s Bolivarian Revolution; and the course of participatory democracy under Chavez. The contributors analyze such factors as the vulnerability of Venezuelan democracy before Chavez; the role of political parties, organized labor, the urban poor, the military, and businessmen; and the impact of public and economic policy. This timely volume offers important lessons for comparative regime change within hybrid democracies.