Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-jr42d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T13:59:29.824Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Meanings of Democracy in Venezuela: Citizen Perceptions and Structural Change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Damarys Canache
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Throughout Latin America, democratic political structures reflect liberal conceptualizations of democracy. Since the election of Hugo Chávez, Venezuela has emerged as an exception, with President Chávez sponsoring initiatives designed to foster participatory democracy. This article draws on the Venezuelan case in an effort to gain insight on the malleability of citizens' definitions of and attitudes toward democracy. Two key findings emerge. First, in data gathered ten years into the Chávez presidency, the vast majority of Venezuelans still define democracy in liberal terms, whereas relatively few have embraced participatory conceptualizations. Second, although Venezuelans as a whole are highly supportive of democracy as a form of government, no evidence is found that either support for Chávez or defining democracy in terms of participation corresponds with higher favorability toward democracy. Together, these findings suggest that Venezuela's political transformation has produced little or no discernible effect on mass sentiment regarding democracy.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , Volume 54 , Issue 3 , Fall 2012 , pp. 95 - 122
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alvarez, Angel E. 2003. La reforma del estado antes y después de Chávez. In Ellner and Hellinger 2003. 187–208.Google Scholar
Barber, Benjamin. 1984. Strong Democracy. Berkeley : University of California Press.Google Scholar
Barber, Benjamin. 1998. A Passion for Democracy. Princeton : Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Buxton, Julia. 2001. The Failure of Political Reform in Venezuela. Ashgate : Aldershot.Google Scholar
Camp, Roderic Ai. 2001. Citizen Views of Democracy in Latin America. Pittsburgh : University of Pittsburgh Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Canache, Damarys. 2002a. From Bullets to Ballots: the Emergence of Popular Support for Hugo Chávez. Latin American Politics and Society 44, 1 (Spring): 69–90.Google Scholar
Canache, Damarys. 2002b. Venezuela: Public Opinion and Protest in a Fragile Democracy. Coral Gables : North-South Center Press.Google Scholar
Canache, Damarys. 2004. Urban Poor and the Political Order. In McCoy and Myers 2004. 33–49.Google Scholar
Canache, Damarys. Forthcoming. Citizens' Conceptualizations of Democracy: Structural Complexity, Substantive Content, and Political Significance. Comparative Political Studies.Google Scholar
Carothers, Thomas. 1997. Democracy. Foreign Policy 197: 11–18.Google Scholar
Carrión, Julio. F. 2008. Illiberal Democracy and Normative Democracy: How Is Democracy Defined in the Americas? In Challenges to Democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean: Evidence from the AmericasBarometer 2006–2007, ed. Seligson, Mitchell A.. http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADM574.pdf. Accessed April 5, 2010.Google Scholar
Constitución de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela. 1999. Gaceta Oficial 36.860, December 30. http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Venezuela/venezuela.html. Accessed August 15, 2010.Google Scholar
Coppedge, Michael. 1994. Strong Parties and Lame Ducks: Presidential Partyarchy and Factionalism in Venezuela. Stanford : Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Dahl, Robert A. 1971. Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. New Haven : Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Dalton, Russell J., Shin, Doh C., and Jou, Willy. 2007a. Understanding Democracy: Data from Unlikely Places. Journal of Democracy 18, 4: 142–56.Google Scholar
Dalton, Russell J., Shin, Doh C., and Jou, Willy. 2007b. Popular Conceptions of the Meaning of Democracy: Democratic Understanding in Unlikely Places. Irvine: Center for the Study of Democracy, University of California, Irvine. http://escholarship.org/uc/item/2j74b860. Accessed April 5, 2010.Google Scholar
Dewey, John. 1954. The Public and Its Problems. Athens , Ohio : Swallow Press.Google Scholar
Diamond, Larry J. 1996. Is the Third Wave over? Journal of Democracy 7, 3: 20–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diamond, Larry J. 1999. Developing Democracy. Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Ellner, Steve. 2006. Las estrategias desde arriba y desde abajo del movimiento de Hugo Chávez. Cuadernos del CENDES 62: 73–93.Google Scholar
Ellner, Steve, and Hellinger, Daniel, eds. 2003. La política venezolana en la época de Chávez: clases, polarización y conflicto. Caracas : Nueva Sociedad.Google Scholar
Fabrigar, Leandre R., MacDonald, Tara K., and Wegener, Duane T.. 2005. The Structure of Attitudes. In The Handbook of Attitudes, ed. Albarracin, Dolores, Johnson, Blair T., and Zanna, Mark P.. Mahwah, NJ : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 79–124.Google Scholar
Festinger, Leon. 1957. A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Stanford : Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
García-Guadilla, María del Pilar. 2003. Sociedad civil, fragmentación, autonomía. In Ellner and Hellinger 2003. 231–51.Google Scholar
García-Guadilla, María del Pilar. 2008. La praxis de los consejos comunales en Venezuela: ¿poder popular o instancia clientelar? Revista Venezolana de Economía y Ciencias Sociales 14: 125–51.Google Scholar
Hawkins, Karl A., and Hansen, David R.. 2006. Dependent Civil Society: the Círculos Bolivarianos in Venezuela. Latin American Research Review 41: 103–32.Google Scholar
Heider, Fritz. 1958. The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations. New York : Wiley.Google Scholar
Hellinger, Daniel. 2008. ¿Cómo entiende el pueblo la democracia protagónica? Resultados de una encuesta. Revista Venezolana de Economía y Ciencias Sociales 14: 153–81.Google Scholar
Huntington, Samuel P. 1997. After Twenty Years: the Future of the Third Wave. Journal of Democracy 8, 4: 3–12.Google Scholar
Informe Latinobarómetro. 2006. http://www.latinobarometro.org. Accessed September 30, 2010.Google Scholar
Informe Latinobarómetro. 2010. http://www.latinobarometro.org. Accessed September 30, 2010.Google Scholar
Karl, Terry Lynn. 1987. Petroleum and Political Pacts: the Transition to Democracy in Venezuela. Latin America Research Review 22: 63–94.Google Scholar
Lagos, Marta. 2008. Latin America's Diversity of Views. Journal of Democracy 19: 111–25.Google Scholar
Lakoff, Sanford. 1996. Democracy: History, Theory, and Practice. Boulder : Westview Press.Google Scholar
Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP). 20067. The AmericasBarometer Surveys. Venezuelan survey. Nashville : Vanderbilt University. http://www.LapopSurveys.org.Google Scholar
Latinobarometer. 1998, 2001, 2005, 2007. Press reports. http://www.latinobarometro.org. Accessed August 30, 2010.Google Scholar
Levine, Daniel H. 1973. Conflict and Political Change in Venezuela. Princeton : Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
López Maya, Margarita. 2008. The State, Popular Participation, and How to Make Things Work. Paper presented at the conference “The Popular Sectors and the State in Chávez's Venezuela,” Yale University, March 6–7.Google Scholar
Lovera, Alberto. 2008. Los consejos comunales en Venezuela: ¿democracia participativa o delegativa? Revista Venezolana de Economía y Ciencias Sociales 14: 107–24.Google Scholar
MacPherson, C. B. 1977. The Life and Times of Liberal Democracy. Oxford : Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
McCoy, Jennifer L., and Myers, David J., eds. 2004. The Unraveling of Representative Democracy in Venezuela. Baltimore : John Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Merolla, Jennifer L., and Zechmeister, Elizabeth. 2009. Las percepciones de liderazgo en el contexto de las elecciones mexicanas de 2006. Política y Gobierno, special issue: 41–81.Google Scholar
Merolla, Jennifer L., Ramos, Jennifer M., and Zechmeister, Elizabeth. 2007. Crisis, Charisma, and Consequences: Evidence from the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election. Journal of Politics 69: 30–42.Google Scholar
Munck, Gerardo. 2009. Measuring Democracy. Baltimore : John Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Myers, David J. 2008. Venezuela: Delegative Democracy or Electoral Autocracy? In Constructing Democratic Governance in Latin America, 3d ed., ed. Domínguez, Jorge I. and Shifter, Michael. Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press. 285–320.Google Scholar
Myers, David J., and O'Connor, Robert E.. 1998. Support for Coups in Democratic Political Culture: a Venezuelan Exploration. Comparative Politics 30: 193–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Naim, Moisés, and Piñango, Ramón, eds. 1985. El caso Venezuela: una ilusión de armonía. Caracas : IESA.Google Scholar
Oropeza, Luis J. 1983. Tutelary Pluralism: A Critical Approach to Venezuelan Democracy. Cambridge : Center for International Affairs, Harvard University.Google Scholar
Page, Benjamin I., and Shapiro, Robert Y.. 1992. The Rational Public. Chicago : University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pateman, Carole. 1970. Participation and Democratic Theory. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Peeler, John A. 1998. Building Democracy in Latin America. Boulder : Lynne Rienner.Google Scholar
Petty, Richard E., and Cacioppo, John T.. 1986. Communication and Persuasion: Central and Peripheral Routes to Attitude Change. New York : Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Plattner, Marc F. 2010. Populism, Pluralism, and Liberal Democracy. Journal of Democracy 21, 1: 81–92.Google Scholar
Schumpeter, J. A. 1942 (1976). Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. New York : Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Stimson, James A. 1999. Public Opinion in America: Moods, Cycles, and Swings. 2nd ed. Boulder : Westview Press.Google Scholar
Valencia Ramírez, Cristóbal. 2005. Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution: Who Are the Chavistas? Latin American Perspectives 32: 79–97.Google Scholar