venezuela - hugo chavez and socialism

7/27/2019 Venezuela - Hugo Chavez and Socialism

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Chavismo and Democracy in Venezuela

Damarys CanacheUniversity of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana

To be presented at the Symposium on Prospects for Democracy in Latin America.University of North-Texas, April 5-6, 2007


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When Hugo Chvez won the presidential election in 1998, few imagined the

depth and breath of the societal transformation that he and his political movement would

bring to Venezuela . Once in power, Chvez launched an ambitious political project, the

Bolivarian Revolution, involving the re-founding of the Venezuelan republic. One of the

programs fundamental changes pertains to the way in which democracy is being

conceptualized, and therefore contested, in Venezuela. The question of what type of

democracy exists, or should exist, in the country is not merely an abstract and theoretical

matter, but is instead of direct importance for contemporary social and political dynamics

in Venezuela. Public debate on the principles, substance, and institutions of Venezuelandemocracy began prior to the arrival of Hugo Chvez to power, but this debate has taken

center stage and infused power conflicts among old and new social and political actors in

Venezuela during Chvezs in office.

In 1998, Hugo Chvez was able to win support of ample sectors of Venezuelan

society and became elected president by openly attacking some of the central principles

and institutions of representative democracy. During his electoral campaign, Chvez

talked about breaking with the past and overcoming the notion of representative

democrcy a system he associates with the interests of wealthy sectors. As an alternative

model of democracy, Hugo Chvez and his movement (hereafter Chavismo)1 put forward

a broader notion of democracy,participatory and protagonist democracy.2

1 The term chavismo is used here to refer to the followers of Hugo Chvez political project. The

chavistas include a heterogeneous set of political and social actors. There are military and civilianfollowers, and they may be unorganized or organized.

2 The notion of participatory and protagonist democracy is central to Chavezs political project. Anillustration of how this view of democracy guides the actions of the Venezuelan government is the episodeof the vote on the definition of democracy (contained in a U.S.-backed draft) for the Americas to beincluded in the Democratic Charter of the 2001 Summit of the Americas. On that occasion, the Venezuelangovernment openly objected to a definition of democracy that required free elections, a pluralist system ofpolitical parties, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. The Venezuelan governmentclaimed that the proposed conceptualization of democracy was too narrow, and pushed for the inclusion of

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In the aftermath of his electoral victory, Chvez convened a Constitutional

Assembly to draw a new Constitution. This new legal framework, approved by the

majority of Venezuelan voters in December 1999, became the central means to bring

about sweeping structural political and societal changes in Venezuela.3 In the preamble of

the new constitution, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is defined as a democratic,

participatory and protagonist society. This broad and diffuse notion roughly speaks to

the idea that societys government and political institutions should be constructed on the

basis ofdirectpopular participation in public affairs. Thus, in contrast to the

representation principle prevailing in most modern democracies, the idea of participatorydemocracy conceives of direct citizen participation and engagement in public policy as an

essential element of the democratic quality of a polity. In the 1999 Constitution, the idea

of a participatory and protagonist democracy replaces the model of representative

democracy installed in Venezuela in 1958.

While at the formal level, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is a democracy,4

the radical trajectory of President Chvez has led many scholars and observers of

Venezuelan politics to question the democratic nature of his regime. For some, Hugo

Chvez and his Bolivarian Revolution have seriously damaged democracy in Venezuela.

From this perspective, his eight years in power have been characterized by a complete

the word participatory. Eventually, Venezuelas proposal was rejected, and Venezuela signed thedemocratic charter, but with reservations.

3The decision to convene a Constitutional Assembly was approved in a national referendum with 92% ofthe vote. On July 25, 1999 elections were held to elect 131 deputies to the Constitutional Assembly, whichdebated proposals for the new constitution. The constitution was ultimately approved with 71.78% of thevote in a national referendum held in December 15th 1999.

4 Art. 2 of the 1999 Constitution states that Venezuela is a democratic state and a state of law and socialjustice that upholds as superior values of its legal framework and actions, life, freedoms, justice, equality,solidarity, democracy, and social responsibility, and in general, the preeminence of human rights, ethics,and political pluralism. (Constitucin de la Repblica Bolivariana deVenezuela, authors translation).

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disregard for the rule of law, the weakening of government institutions, the breakdown of

the party system, and lack of real competition, and deep political and social polarization.

Chvez has been able to achieve full partisan control of key government institutions (i.e,

National Assembly, the Courts, the National Electoral Commission, the Attorney General

office, the Comptroller General office, the Ombudsman office), undermining their

autonomy and independence. Further, Chvez has direct control of the spending and

investment of the countrys oil income (through partisan hold of the oil state enterprise,

PDVSA), a circumstance that allows him to design and implement populist policies and

programs known in Venezuela as misiones that function as the central mechanismsof distribution of natural resources among the poor, the subject and object of his

Bolivarian Revolution. From this perspective, Hugo Chvez is a populist leader who

bypasses traditional political institutions and creates direct links with the popular sectors.

In short, the current political system is Venezuela would be best characterized by

populism and the increasingly personalistic and arguably authoritarian style of rule of

President Chvez.

For others, Hugo Chvez and his Bolivarian Revolution are foremost about

empowering the poor. In a nation like Venezuela, a nation plagued with poverty and

social inequality, the radical approach of Hugo Chvez with focus on redistribution of

wealth and other social aspects of public policy is crucial, and justified, to address the

entrenched disparity of the Venezuelan society. The Bolivarian Revolutions is effecting a

major transformation in Venezuela, a transformation that involves greater social inclusion

and democracy.

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This paper considers how the idea of democracy endorsed by Chvez and his

political project frame current understandings of democracy in Venezuela. For instance,

do Venezuelans favor participatory democracy instead of representative democracy? The

first section of the paper discusses the major politico-institutional features and political

developments underlying the consolidation and demise of representative democracy in

Venezuela, hereafter Punto Fijo democracy (1958-1998), and the transition toward the

Bolivarian Republic (1998-). The focus of the analysis is on the limitations of

institutions and political practices of the Punto Fijo democracy and in the emergence of

demands for participatory democracy. The following section discusses the notion of aparticipatory and protagonist democracy as codified in the 1999 Constitution. This

discussion takes into account diverse and competing perspectives on the meaning of

participatory and protagonist democracy. Having outlined the ideological and political

framings of the notion of democracy contained in the Venezuelan constitution, the paper

assesses the efforts of the chavismo to concretize the idea of participatory democracy.

Finally, the paper looks beyond the theoretical debate and the political struggle around

democracy in Venezuela, and examines public opinion data on how the general

population conceives of democracy.

From Representative to Participatory Democracy

Punto Fijo Democracy: The Rise and Fall of Representative Democracy in

Venezuela

The end of the rule of Marcos Perez Jimnez in 1958 marked the beginning of a

long-lasting era of democratic governance in Venezuela.5 Until that moment, Venezuela5 Since 1958 Venezuelan democracy has confronted several challenges threatening its survival. Suchchallenges include a significant guerrilla insurgency in the 1960s and attempted military coups early in thePunto Fijo era (1960s) and toward its end (1990s). In 2002, President Hugo Chvez was temporarilyousted from power by a joint civil-military coup and replaced by the president of FEDECAMARAS (the

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had had only a brief and turbulent experience with democratic politics;6 this lack of

democratic experience made the transition to the new regime an intricate process of

coalition building and political compromise among national elites (Levine 1973; Levine

and Crisp 1995). Once installed, the new regime, hereafter Punto Fijo democracy,7

opened the way to a long period of relative political stability rooted in a political formula

endorsing quintessential procedures and institutions of liberal representative democracy.

The essential feature of thePunto Fijo democracy was the development of a two-

party-dominant competitive electoral system. Political parties, and in particular the

social-democratic party AD and the social-Christian party COPEI, came to dominatepolitical and social relations to such an extent that a student of Venezuelan politics

qualified the Venezuelan system as a party-regime or partyarchy (Coppedge 1994).

This formula of power competition and representation was established and maintained

over the years due to a developing consensus among Venezuelan elites. While initially

cautious and untruthful toward each other, Venezuelan elites gradually came to agree on

the opportunities for mutual benefit inherent in this model. Myers points to the years

between 1958 and 1975 as a period of elite convergence, a period in which

establishment elites concluded that they were prospering in a representative democracy

dominated by mass-based political parties (2004, 20).

main business association in the country), Pedro Carmona Estanga.6 The trienio period (1945-1948) represents the first and short-lived experience of mass politics inVenezuela.7

The name refers to the foundational pact, the Punto Fijo Pact, signed between the major political parties,AD, COPEI and URD, with the exclusion of the left. Juan Carlos Rey (1972) coined the phrase ofsistema populista de reconciliacin to signify this arrangement. The central tenets of the socio-politicalmodel being built in Venezuela were electoral democracy and sovereign control of the oil wealth,conceived as the basis of the nations economic progress.

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Traditional elites represented by the landowners and the military assured

themselves an advantageous situation under the Punto Fijo model, and despite their

suspicions during the first two governments headed by the social-democratic AD, they

gradually backed the political model.8 The business sector came to co-exist and benefit

from a state-centered model of development advanced by the Punto Fijo democracy.

Within an expanding state role in the economy, the private capital was able to prosper

and gained a voice in the policy-making process. Prior conflict between the Catholic

Church and the emergent political actors, in particular AD, was settled through a series of

compromises

9

that preserved the central role of the Catholic institutions in Venezuelassocial fabric.

The main political parties, AD and COPEI, were at the center of this process of

consensus building, mediating agreements and compromises among the elites. Through

these potent mass organizations, party leaders also shared benefits with their allies in

societal organizations. The parties had established organic links with interest groups such

as unions, peasant leagues, neighborhood organizations, professional associations, and so

on, and throughout these connections were able to dispense substantial levels of

patronage among their followers.

For several decades, the two-dominant party system based on the cooperation

among the party leaders to share and monopolize power assured that wealth distribution,

8 The traditional agricultural sector found that in contrast with the radical land reform policies of the trienio

government (headed by Rmulo Gallegos, AD, 1945-1948), the policies of the first two ADadministrations followed a path to land reform that did not substantially affect nor change the landdistribution structure in the nations. Land distribution affected mostly state-owned rather than privately-owned land, while public policy toward this sector favored credits, subsides, and the creation of markets foragricultural products. The military also was suspicious of the civilian leadership, but came to accept and tosustain the model of representative democracy. Among the factors explaining this change were the decisionof the civilian governments to provide a significant budgetary allocation to the military and the redefinitionof military responsibility as guardian of the constitution (Myers 2004, 21).

9 For a detailed explanation see Levine 1973.

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mostly derived from the oil rent, reached both relevant elites and the general public. The

cornerstone for the stability of the Punto Fijo democracy was this arrangement and the

ensuing, albeit partial,10 consensus on its effectiveness to achieve economic and social

prosperity.11 Presiding over a powerful state apparatus, elites controlling the dominant

parties initiated policies that turned Venezuela from a predominantly rural and backward

society into an urbanized and modernizing society. In the early 1970s Venezuela was

experiencing a boom of prosperity sustained by the high oil prices, and the idea (or

dream) of the Gran Venezuela was seen as something achievable. Oil wealth both

shaped and sustained the model of representative democracy, and assured its stability byminimizing class conflict.

Soon after, however, the first signs of trouble for Venezuelas Punto Fijo

democracy were in sight. Regardless of whether the focus of explanation 12 hinges on

political, institutional, and/or economic variables, most analysts agree that the illusion of

10

Leftist parties were marginalized under the Punto Fijo Pact. This marginalization led these forces to fightan armed struggle against Punto Fijo governments. These forces came from the Communist party (PCV),and factions from URD and AD. During the administration of Rafael Caldera (1968-1973), the amnestypolicy provided a means for these forces to abandon the armed struggle and join the democratic game.Perhaps a good indicator of the partial consensus that existed on the legitimacy of the representativedemocratic model is the fact that some of the some of the leading figures of the guerrilla insurgency such asLuis Miquelena, Jose Vicente Rangel, and Ali Rodriguez Araque among others occupied top governmentpositions in the first administration of Hugo Chvez.

11 For analysis that highlight the importance of negotiation and pacts among national elites for the transitionand consolidation of the model of representative democracy in Venezuela see Levine, 1973; Karl 1987;Higley and Gunther 1992; and Peeler 1992, 1998.12

Scholars have pointed to diverse explanations of the demise of the model of representative democracy inVenezuela. Some explanations focus on political and institutional variables such as the elitist andexclusionary nature of regimes built upon party pacts (Crisp, Levine and Rey 1995), the highly centralizedand rigid design of the political parties of the Punto Fijo (Coppedge 1994, Oropeza 1983), and the lack offlexibility in drawing and applying lessons from past political experiences (Jcome 2000, McCoy 1999,2000). Other theses emphasize political economy variables such as the inherent weaknesses of rentier states(e.g., Karl 1987, 1997), the destabilizing effects of adjusting economic policies (Naim 1993), and theemergence of class conflict (Ellner and Hellinger 2003). For more detailed explanation see Myers (2004).

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plenty and the apparent social harmony to which Venezuelans had become accustomed

started to crumble in the early 1980s. By then, escalating troubles in the economic, social,

and political spheres converged to create profound disequilibria that threatened the

functioning and stability of the political regime.

The first marker of serious economic crisis emerged on February 18th 1983, or

Black Friday. Following a deep fall in oil prices in 1982, the government of President

Luis Herrera Campns decided on a massive devaluation of Venezuelan currency,

awaking common Venezuelans to an ensuing reality of economic crisis. Unemployment,

inflation, continued devaluation, social inequalityand poverty accumulated and fashioneda significant performance deficit for the democratic political system.

In tandem with the deteriorating economic situation, the country entered a serious

political crisis. An early sign of the crisis was the climbing rate of abstention in

Venezuelan elections. Despite efforts to decentralize and democratize the political system

through a series of reforms such as the introduction of separate municipal and state

elections, and electoral reform aiming to enhance the connection between the legislators

and their constituencies, voters showed disaffection with the traditional political parties,

anchors of the model of representative democracy. Electoral abstention continued to rise

throughout the 1980s and 1990s, while those who chose to participate in the electoral

processes began to favor non-traditional parties such as the Causa Radical (LCR) and

Convergencia.

One of the most dramatic signs of the brewing political and institutional crisis

took place on February 27th 1989. Reacting to the shock-treatment formula used to

implement neo-liberal policies by the recently inaugurated president Carlos Andrs

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Prez, the population of Caracas, and later the other main cities in Venezuela, staged

massive protests and extensive looting that lasted for several days.13 El Caracazo, as

these protests later became known, ended the illusion of social harmony. Those were

days of social anomie in Venezuela. The majority of protesters came from the popular

sectors, and particularly the poor living at the fringe of Venezuelan cities (Civit and

Espaa 1989; Lpez Maya 1999). For the first time in several decades it was clear that

the traditional mechanisms to channel social conflict such as parties, unions and

community associations, were not working. As conflict turned violent, the government

called for the intervention of the armed forces. The ensuing repression ended with anofficial count of 300 dead, but unofficial reports put this figure around 1,000 dead. El

Caracazo revealed the intensification of social tensions and conflict, a situation that

would remain true throughout the 1990s.

13 Protest and riots spread throughout Venezuela from February 27th to March 5th. The specific event thattriggered the protest was a sudden increase in bus fares.

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would effectively expand the number of actors in the political and policy process.

Dramatic events such as the protest of February 1989 and the two attempted military

coups of 1992 revealed the depth of social polarization in Venezuela and eventually

prompted some action from the political elites, but it was too little to late. Venezuelans

were hungry for radical change.

Democratizing Democracy: Civil Society and Participatory Democracy

The idea of participatory democracy in Venezuela is not of the exclusive property

of the Chavista movement. New social organizations that sought autonomy frompolitical parties began to emerge in Venezuela in the 1970s.15 In the early stages of civil

society in Venezuela, these social organizations were concerned with non-political issues

but by the 1980s the callings for a deeper democratic process began to be voiced.

Demands for deepening democracy and greater participation, for a participatory

democracy, were first articulated by the citizen movement mostly led by middle class

social organizations, a movement that emerged as a reaction to the 1979 Ley Orgnica de

Rgimen Muncipal,16but soon after this movement came to incorporate the popular

organizations as well. Different strategies, including popular mobilization and protest and

observes as the disarticulation between the political and societal, the political structure did not evolve atthe same pace as society and lacked the capacity to channel the enormous forces that have been unleashed(cited in Cedeo 2006, 93).

15 Garca Gaudilla (2003) distinguishes distinct phases in the evolution of civil society in Venezuela. The

first phase (1960-1980) saw the emergence and formation social movements. In contrast with formalorganizations linked to political parties, these new social movements were autonomous from the state, theydid not have corporative structures, and they endorsed the principles of participation, equity, and solidarity.These movements mobilized around issues that were not directly political such as the environment, gender,community, and human rights. A second phase in the development civil society (1980 1998) involved theadoption of objectives of high symbolic political value; for example, the struggles for political de-centralization and participatory democracy took a central stage on the agenda of some of these socialmovements.

16 This law recognizes a limited role for the local community in the solution of their local needs.

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the effective use of media to promote their goals and influence political decision-making,

were useful to expand the scope of the movementfrom a Caracas-centered movement

to a national movementand to give it a decisively political connotation (Garca-

Guadilla and Roa 1996).

For this heterogeneous citizen movement, participatory democracy meant greater

participation in the decision-making process at the local, state, and national levels, and

also meant political decentralization (Garca Guadilla 2003; Alvarez 2003). This push

for more democracy fueled decentralization and state reform struggles that in the 1980s

and 1990s led the political leadership to initiate a process of limited political reform. Oneof the most important initiatives was the creation of a national commission for the reform

of the state, la Comisin para la Reforma del Estado (COPRE) by President Lusinchi

(1984-1988). The 1988 COPRE prioritized citizen participation in the decisions of their

local affairs, all within the frame of liberal democracy (Silva 1999; Garca-Gaudilla

2003).17 Implementation of the COPREs recommendations occurred in the context of

increasing social and political turmoil. Following the massive 1989 protest, President

Carlos Andrs Prez immediately began the reform of the 1961 Constitution that led to

political-administrative decentralization in Venezuela,18 and therefore, to the formal

recognition of the demands of greater participation articulated by social movements and

various civil society organizations.

This process of constitutional reform that lasted until 1994 occurred in a context

of mounting economic troubles and serious political crisisheightened by the two coup

17 Silva (1999) explains how the COPREs report, while it sought to limit the excess of politicalrepresentation and enhance citizen participation in their local affairs, did not propose the democratization ofthe political institutions that would eventually lead to a true participatory democracy.18 Significant legal instruments were the 1989 Ley Orgnica de Decentralizacin y Transferencia de laCompetencia, and the reform introduced the Ley Orgnica de Rgimen Municipal sanctioned in 1979.

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attempts in 1992. This situation expanded the diversity of interests and ideologies of the

social movements and organizations of the civil society that were participating in the

process of constitutional reform.19 Garca-Gaudilla (2003) explains that, broadly

speaking, there were two main groups of actors: those social organizations highlighting

the question of neo-liberalism and its effects on social inequalities in the country, and

those actors focusing attention on political and institutional reform. The breakdown of the

consensus that existed in the 1980s among social movements and organizations was

typical of these years and in turn differentiation and clarification of societal projects

marked the rhythm of civil society.A renewed and articulated citizen movement emerged in 1999 when the new

president Hugo Chvez convened a National Constitutional Assembly. By then,

discredited political parties could not serve as legitimate representatives of society, and

social organizations and movements occupied that space.20Much like in the prior decade,

the notion of participatory democracy integrated in a common and diffuse goal the

agendas of heterogeneous social actors. This time, however, in contrast with their

participation in the former process of constitutional reform, the various social

organizations were promoting their particular values, interests, and societal projects

(Garca-Guadilla 2003). Given the diffuse nature of the notion of participatory

democracy, it is not surprising that contending views and interpretations on the meaning

19 Between 1989 and 1994 a vast number of social organizations formulated different proposals andprojects that were presented to the national Congress. These proposals ranged from calling for a NationalConstitutional Assembly (rejected by Congress) to further constitutional reform (the path eventuallydecided by Congress). For a detailed account on the number and nature of the civil societys proposals, seeGarca-Guadilla (2003)20 Garca-Gaudilla (2003) describes the process of re-articulation of the citizen movement around the 1999constitutional process. Using formal and informal networks, civil society organizations participatedactively in multiple round-tables, workshops, seminars, and effectively used the media to advance theirproposals.

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of democracy and on the procedures, initiatives, and mechanisms for making democracy

possible appeared in this process. At the end, social movements and organizations whose

values and ideas were consistent with the Bolivarian project of Hugo Chvez were more

likely to be included in the new constitution. For instance, measured by the percentage of

proposals approved to be included in the 1999 constitution, there was a clear success for

those organizations proposing a radical and alternative model of democracy (65% of

proposals approved) in comparison with those organizations proposing a liberal model of

democracy (only 33% of their proposals were approved) (Garca-Gaudillo 2003).

Much of the social and political conflict that developed in Venezuela over the lastyears has been connected in some these conflicting views about democracy; therefore,

outlining the tenets of this idea of participatory democracy, how Chvez and his

movement is trying to implement the model of participatory democracy, and how the

general population understands what democracy is are of vital importance if we are to

gain insight regarding the likely future path of democracy in Venezuela.

What is participatory and protagonist democracy?

There is not a straightforward answer to this question. There are several reasons

for this situation. First, the notion of participatory democracy is normative, and, as a

result, controversial. Second, the conception of democracy established in the 1999

constitution has been subjected to interpretations in line with both a radical and a liberal

conception of democracy, leaving ambiguity as to meaning. Third, the notion of

participatory democracy has been and continues to be a point of contention in Venezuela,

bringing continuing fluidity to how this concept is defined.

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Elements compatible with two contending views of democracy can be found in

the 1999 Constitution (Garca-Gaudillo 2003). The first perspective conceives of

democracy as representative democracy, but it strives for real representation. This

view,21in line with the liberal conception of democracy, understands the participatory

and protagonist dimensions of democracy to mean citizen participation through

intermediating agencies, primarily through autonomous and representative social

organizations. The second perspective assumes the participatory and protagonist

dimensions of democracy to mean direct participation by the people in public affairs.

Thus, this perspective conceives of democracy as direct democracy.

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As delineated inArt.70 of the Constitution, direct participation means that the people have the right to use

and activate a series of participatory mechanisms, including elections, referenda, citizen

legislative initiatives, citizen assemblies, and so on, which are conceived as means of

direct citizen participation in political affairs. Beyond this, in the economic and social

spheres, this perspective recognizes a protagonist role to the people organized in social

organizations such as community organizations, cooperatives, associations, and so on, to

participate actively in the decisions concerning their particular needs and affairs. In sum,

this perspective conceives of democracy as a means of empowerment of the people by

promoting their direct participation in public affairs.

The debate about what form of democracy exists in Venezuela is not merely

academic in nature. After the enactment of the 1999 Constitution, much of the political

struggle in the country has related to the issue of defining the relevant actors (which

actors are to be included), and the mechanisms and institutions that would make possible21 This view was proposed by SINERGIA, a civil society network, in the Ley Orgnica de ParticipacinPopular, Ciudadana y Comunitaria presented to the National Assembly.22 This view was formally articulated by the project Machn presented by leftist social organizations to theNational Assembly.

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a participatory democracy in the country. Hugo Chvez and his movement have worked

toward designing policies and institutions to concretize the idea of participatory

democracy.

Chavismo and Participatory Democracy

While much focus of the analysis of Venezuelan politics is devoted to the figure

of Hugo Chvez, his politics and policies, less attention has been given to the role that

popular sectors are playing in shaping the nature of the political process in Venezuela.

The bases of the Chavista movement includes both unorganized and organized popular

sectors that have mobilized to support Hugo Chvez in critical times during hisgovernment, but that also maintain their own struggle for identity and autonomy from the

state (Ellner 2006, Fernandes 2006).

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Many of the emblematic Chavistas organizations have been born under the watch,

and even guidance, of Hugo Chvez, but many others social organizations pre-date

Chvezs leadership,23 and still others continue to flourish today in Venezuelas barrios

and neighborhoods.24 Some of these organizations, such as community and neighborhood

organizations, had a history of shifting clientelist relationships with the state, a situation

that arguably is being refashioned by Hugo Chvezs social policies. At the center of the

relationships between Chvez and these organizations are issues of autonomy and

dependence vis--vis the Venezuelan state; a connection that I foresee as a key defining

factor in determining whether democracy, and what kind of democracy, will endure inVenezuela.

23 For example for 1998 a study found that the spectrum of civil society organizations in Venezuelaincludes about 25,000 organizations (Gmez 2005).24 Fernandes (2007) illustrates this point by narrating her own experience during her fieldwork inVenezuela (2004-2006) where she witnessed the birth of grass roots social organizations from communityradio, health committees, cofradias, mural collectivities, etc.

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The grass-roots movement in support of the Chvez government and his view of

democracy is heterogeneous. Jcome (2006) classifies the chavista social organization

those allied with the governmentin two basic categories. On one side, there are

organizations created from above. Among these organizations were found different

degrees of state control over the organizations. First, there are organizations over which

the government has substantial control because they are organized and financed by the

government. One of the most emblematic of such organizations is the Crculos

Bolivarianos25 (Hawkins and Hansen 2006; Valencia Ramrez 2005). The Crculos

Bolivarianos were presented by president Chvez as a mechanism for the participationof the people and for the strengthening of the revolutionary process and implementation

of participatory and protagonist democracy (Gmez 2005). Originally, the Crculos

Bolivarianos were supposed to work on community problems concerning education,

health, and other social issues, but as the political crisis intensified (2002-2004) these

organizations proved to be very effective in mobilizing political support from the popular

sectors. The Crculos Bolivarianos, like other organizations created from above such as

the Unidades de Batalla Electoral, the Unidades de Desarrollo Endgeno, have proven to

be short-lived, and have served a punctual political goal. Other social organizations,

although not created by the government, organizations such as the Tupamaros, the Clase

Media en Positivo, the Fuerza Bolivariana de Trabajadores, were rapidly politicized and

weakened by the recruitment of their activists by the state and for the benefits offered by

the states social policies (Ellner 2006).

25 Hugo Chvez presented himself as the main leader of the Crculos Bolivarianos, and the office for thedirection of these organizations was established in the presidential palace.

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Pro-government organizations have also mushroomed around specific social

programs such as cooperatives (i.e., cooperatives mixtas de abastecimientos, cooperatives

de gas, cooperatives de medicinas), Fundos Zamuranos, and various community

organizations (Alayn 2005). Further, the government has displayed efforts toward these

new social organizations and unorganized social sectors such as the informal sector

(buhoneros), the unemployed, the retired and students through a number of social

programs ormisiones. (Garca-Gaudilla 2003). These programs combine to create a vast

network of clientelism that is instrumental in addressing some of the needs of these

sectors, while at the same time assuring political support.At the other end of the chavista field, there are social organizationssome of

them existing prior to the arrival of Chvez to power such as Comits de Tierras,

Mesas Tcnicas de Agua, Consejos Comunitarios de Aguathat are focused on social

rather than political issues, and that strive to maintain their own identity and autonomy

from Hugo Chvez, his political party, and the state bureaucracy.

Acting above these myriad diverse social organizations and sectors is a powerful

state apparatus that, thanks to the high level of income from oil, is able to implement a

number of social programs aiming to empower the popular sectors (Lpez Maya 2005).

Several misiones sociales Misin Barrio Adentro (in the area of health), Misin

Robison I, Misin Robison II (in the area of literacy), Misin Ribas, Misin Sucre and

Misin Vuelvan Caras (in the formal and vocational education areas), Misin Habitat (in

the area of housing), Misin Mercal (in the area of food distribution and security), among

the most important (Salas 2004, Lpez Maya 2005, Alayn 2005, La Cruz 2006) have

been instrumental in making the state a facilitating agent of peoples empowerment.

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A recent and major development concerning the future of civil society in

Venezuela, the relation between state and civil society, and the future of participatory

democracy, concerns the establishment of the Popular Power, whose central elements are

represented by the consejos comunales. The antecedents of the Consejos Comunales

date back to the local planning councils (consejos locales de planificacin)26 designed to

create a space for people to directly participate within the local governments. Late in

2005, the figure of consejos comunales as the new unit of social organization for self-

government was introduced by President Chvez. On March 2, 2006 the Ley of Consejos

Comunales was approved. This lawwhich is currently under revision by a presidentialcommission, designated Consejo Presidencial del Poder Populardefines these

organizations as units formed by a group of families (for example between 200 and 400

families in the case of urban areas) that should act as means of articulation and

integration of disparate community organizations toward the end of assuring that people

participate in public policy. The consejos comunales coordinates and links any social

organizations such as Mesas Tcnicas de Agua, sport organizations, cultural associations,

etc., functioning within a given territorial area. In sum, the consejos comunales are

integrating social organizations corresponding to a given territorial units.

Arguably, the current structure of the consejos comunales offers limitations to the

idea of participatory democracy, or more precisely of autonomous participatory

democracy. According to the law, the consejos comunales are highly dependent on the

Executive power, and more specifically on the Presidential Commission for the Popular

Power (CPPP) where they must register (and therefore be recognized as legitimate

26 The Law regulating the Consejos Locales de Planificacin was published inGaceta Oficial in June 12,2002.

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community organizations) and present the proposals and projects related to their

community and local needs. At the end, it is the CPPP, and Hugo Chvez himself, who

decide on the financing of resources for these projects. Thus, as the law is currently

conceived, rather than peoples empowerment, these programs promote clientelism.

How Venezuelans View Democracy

Both formally and informally, the conceptualization of democracy in Venezuela

has undergone a substantial transformation. At least nominally, the most dramatic

element of this transformation has involved the downplaying of representativedemocracy, and a corresponding increase in emphasis on participatory democracy. As we

have seen, pragmatic rather than exclusively philosophical mattersespecially the

generation of political support through clientelismhave motivated this change.

Nonetheless, the shifting conceptualization of democracy potentially has brought an array

of consequences. One area will be examined here, namely whether Venezuelan citizens

conceptions of democracy reflect the changes that have occurred in their nations

constitutional structure and policy arena.

The replacement of representative democracy, or, as Chvez and his followers

frame it, of elite-led democracy, with a more participatory structure is a keystone of the

Bolivarian Revolution. Therefore, learning how the general public in Venezuela

conceives of democracy is of critical importance in assessing the extent of success of the

Bolivarian Revolution, and perhaps of the possible limits that citizens may impose on

what some see as the increasingly authoritarian leanings of Hugo Chvez and his regime

(e.g., Nam 2001; Corrales 2006)

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How do Venezuelans evaluate their democracy? Are their evaluations different

from those of citizens elsewhere in Latin America? According to data from the

Latinobarometro surveys, there is a clear preference for democracy in the Latin American

region in comparison to other political regimes, but that preference has declined in recent

years. While in 1996, 61 percent of Latin American respondents supported democracy in

comparison to other forms of government, in 2005 the average support for democracy in

the region was 53 percent, with only three nations, Costa Rica, Uruguay, and Venezuela,

reaching levels of support higher than 70 percent. That Costa Rica and Uruguay, with

their strong democratic tradition and their solid trajectory on social welfare, have highlevels of support for democracy is unsurprising. However, it is somewhat surprising that

Venezuela sits in second place, after Uruguay, among the countries with the highest

support for democracy in the region. In Figure 1, we see that support for democracy in

Venezuela is considerably higher than the regions average. Given Venezuelas recent

political turbulence and continuing social inequality, the bases of Venezuelans positive

assessments of democracy warrant consideration.

The 2005 Latinobarometer also asked respondents to assess how democratic was

their country. Specifically, respondents in the 17 nations of the study were asked to rate

on a scale from 1 to 10 whether their country was totally democratic or not democratic at

all. The data, displayed in Figure 2, reveal that Venezuelans rated their country as highly

democratic (with a 7.6 score). In fact, the Venezuelan political system was deemed by

their own citizens as the most democratic when compared with corresponding

assessments in other countries in the region. On this measure, Venezuela exceeded even

Uruguay and Costa Rica.

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If democracy enjoys such a highly favorable outlook among Venezuelan citizens,

how is it, then, that large numbers of observers, including some within Venezuela, view

the current political system as increasingly authoritarian? Seemingly, Venezuelan

citizens and observers of the Venezuelan political system are somehow talking past one

another, perhaps assessing democracy on different bases. Latinbarometer data permit an

indirect test of this possibility. If Venezuelan citizens conceptions of democracy have

shifted toward a more participatory framework, then we should see differences in how

Venezuelans and other Latin Americans interpret the meaning of democracy.

Specifically, Venezuelans should be less likely to emphasize features of representativedemocracy such as matters related to the occurrence of competitive elections, 27 and

should instead prioritize mass participation and social and political equality.

I examine this question with data from the 2005 Latinobarometer survey.

Specifically, I consider data from an open-ended item28 that asked respondents what

democracy means for them; this item offers the respondent the opportunity to mention up

to two definitions of democracy. The data in Figure 3 reveal, first, that most Venezuelans

were able to verbalize the meaning of democracy, with about 40 percent of respondents

providing two definitions of democracy. Overall only about 11 percent of respondent did

not provide an answer to the question when asked for the first time (about 9 percent said

that they did not know what democracy is, and about 2 percent did not answer), versus a

dont know rate of over 30 percent among the remainder of Latin Americans. Hence,

postponing for the moment assessment ofhow Venezuelans conceive of democracy, the

27 This point is debatable. On one hand, the occurrence of meaningfully competitive elections under a stablemulti-party system quite obviously is less central in the Chavez era than in earlier times. But on the otherhand, the Chavez government has emphasized the importance of mass participation in elections.28 The exact wording of the question is Para Ud., que significa democracia? Y qu ms? This itemhas been included in the 2001, 2002 and 2005 surveys.

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level of politicization, and therefore willingness to define democracy, among

Venezuelans is strikingly high.

As to the substance of respondents conceptions of democracy, the evidence is

consistent with the thesis that emphasis on participatory democracy on the part of the

Chvez government has resonated with the Venezuelan citizenry, albeit perhaps only

rather marginally. Setting aside dont know responses, and focusing solely on

respondents substantive replies, the leading conceptualization of democracy both in

Venezuela (63.9 percent of all answers regarding the first and second meaning of

democracy) and in the remainder of Latin America (58.0 percent) is in terms of civilrights. These conceptualizations are not central to Venezuelas shifting emphasis from

representative democracy to participatory democracy, and thus it appears that political

change in Venezuela has not been of direct relevance for many citizens views as to the

meaning of democracy. However, three other categoriesgovernment by the people,

social and economic equality, and electoral proceduresdo link more squarely with

central features of governance under Chvez. Here, we see that, relative to other Latin

Americans, Venezuelans are, by the thinnest of margins, more likely to conceive of

democracy in participatory (5.8 percent for Venezuela versus 5.4 percent for the rest of

Latin America) and outcome-based (4.7 percent versus 2.7 percent) terms, and only half

as likely to define democracy in terms of electoral procedures (4.8 percent versus 9.5

percent).

These differences, although less than overwhelming in magnitude, suggest that

political change in Venezuela has resonated with the citizenry. Venezuelans have not

raced to embrace participatory democracy in the sense of defining democracy as

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organizations, and in particularly pro-government organizations, display a low degree of

autonomy vis--vis the state. In Venezuela, the enormous resources from the countrys oil

wealth finance numerous social programs targeted to the popular sectors, and have

created strong patron-client relationships between the state and popular organizations. By

co-opting and controlling these social organizations, Chvez and his government

undermine one of the most important conditions to sustain participatory democracy,

autonomy from the state. The Venezuelan case exemplifies the difficulties and challenges

that social organizations may confront in defining their relations with those in power,

even when the official discourse endorse the idea of participatory democracy. At leastthus far, however, any repercussions for mass sentiment have been neutral, and perhaps

even positive. Venezuelans are highly supportive of democracy, and their views of the

meaning of democracy differ only modestly from the interpretations of democracy

provided elsewhere in the region.

After his 2006 electoral victory Hugo Chvez moved rapidly to concretize his

proposal ofSocialism of the 21th century. Is this a new characterization for the process

of deepening of democracy in the second term of Chvezs rule? Is this idea a re-

conceptualization of the notion of participatory and protagonist democracy that guided

the process of political and institutional change from 1999 to 2006? How is this socialism

different from participatory democracy? What will be the institutions of this new system?

Who will be the central actors? For Venezuelan citizens, all of these remain open

questions, yet questions of critical importance in determining the nature of their nations

political system. Data from 2005 reported here reveal that a strong majority of

Venezuelans conceive of democracy in terms of freedom and civil rights, while relatively

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few citizens view democracy in terms of competing political parties, contested elections,

or even mass participation. If this basic conceptualization of democracy continues to

endure, then the ultimate success, and perhaps even stability, of the Chvez regime may

well hinge on the extent to which citizens perceive that their freedom suffers no erosion

under Chvezs brand of socialism.

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0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

percentage

Support for Democracy

Fig. 1 Support for Democracy in 2005

Venezuela Rest of Latin America

Source: Latinobarometer 2005, N=20,207Q: With which of the following statements do you agree most? Democracy is preferable to any other kind of government /

Under some circumstances, and authoritarian government can be preferable to a democratic one/ For people like me, it does

not matter whether we have a democratic or a non-democratic regime. Here Democracy is preferable to any other kind of

regime.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

sca

leofdemocrac

Fig. 2 How Democratic is (country) in 2005?(mean score)


Source: Latinobarometer 2005, N=20,207

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Q: This is a scale to rate how democratic (country) is? The top 10, means that (country) is totally democratic, the bottom1means that the country is not democratic. Where would you place (country)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

percentage

Fig 3a. Percentage of Don't Know/No answer replies to

the Democracy Meaning Item (first mention)


Source: Latinbarometer 2005, N=20,207Q: To you, what does democracy mean? What else (open-ended)

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Fig 3b. Me aning of Democracy in 2005

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Freedoms and

Civil Rights

Elections and

Political Right s

Government

of, byand for

the people

Economic and

Social

Outcomes

Peace and

Unity

Other Posit ive Neutral

Meaning

Negative

Meanings

percentage


Source: Latinbarometer 2005, N=20,207Q: To you, what does democracy mean? What else (open-ended)