The Failure Of Political Reform In Venezuela

Author : Julia Buxton
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 163 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2020-09-29
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781000156614

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The Failure of Political Reform in Venezuela by Julia Buxton Pdf

This title was first published in 2001. The victory of former lieutenant colonel Hugo Chavez in the Venezuelan presidential elections of 1998 was criticized as a blow against the country's deep-seated democratic tradition. It is claimed that this simplistic argument fails to recognize the extent of democratic deterioration in the country and the limitations imposed by discredited political actors on a meaningful democratic reform process. The book aims to break new ground in providing unseen evidence of electoral fraud and offers a fresh perspective on the nature of democratic development.

Author : Margaret Esther Martin
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 468 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2003
Category : Ideology
ISBN : UOM:39015056499968

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The Price of Harmony by Margaret Esther Martin Pdf

Author : Frank Bonilla,Jose Bermudez,Jose Silva Michelena
Publisher : Mit Press
Page : 350 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2003-02-01
Category : History
ISBN : 0262523698

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The Politics of Change in Venezuela by Frank Bonilla,Jose Bermudez,Jose Silva Michelena Pdf

The Failure of Elites is unique as an in-depth study of an operative elite in a country undergoing substantial modernizing change while experiencing profound conflict, including armed insurgency and terrorism. The book combines a historical account of elite succession with an analysis of the social characteristics of incumbent elites. In particular, it describes the rise to power of a middle-sector elite, its subsequent fragmentation and loss of impetus toward reform, as well as diminished contact with the Venezuelan people. The author explores in detail the career lines and private lives of the elite, the structure of intraelite communications, and the ideologies and behavior of men who hold power. Each of these perspectives builds on distinctive types of data and on novel techniques appropriate to the particular analysis.Bonilla's study includes an examination of the more reticent and inaccessible power wielders--the military, proscribed parties, and the United States Community--as well as an appraisal of elite capacity to meet challenges emerging in the current decade. On a broader basis, the book raises serious questions as to the ability of democratic, reform-minded elites in countries like Venezuela to bring about the profound transformation needed to free such nations from poverty and social inequality.

Author : Moisés Naím
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 208 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 1993
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : STANFORD:36105010461122

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Paper Tigers and Minotaurs by Moisés Naím Pdf

"Paper Tigers and Minotaurs is an insider's account of national transition from a protected and state-controlled economy to one relying on free markets and open trade. Venezuela's experience with dismantling an entrenched economic structure and coping with the political consequences of a new system is a national story with international lessons. It is recounted from the author's perspective as a minister directly involved in the process, a scholar equipped to understand its broader implications, and a World Bank executive director we acquainted with the international record of economic reforms. With an eye for paradox and the unexpected, the author retraces his country's passage through the maze of surprises and dangers that beset managers of large-scale reform. Some of the dangers turn out to be roaring but harmless paper tigers; others, the unexpected and deadly minotaur capable of derailing the entire process of reform. Distinguishing one from the other, a none-too-simple task, emerges as an indispensable survival skill for reformers everywhere." "Venezuela, a country boasting one of the oldest and more affluent democracies in Latin America offers a case study exemplifying the complex links between market reforms and political instability. After the painful economic shock that accompanied the launching of the reform program in 1989, Venezuela enjoyed some of the highest economic rates in the world. Yet, this once politically stable, country turned suddenly and traumatically unstable. Two violent army revolts, widespread political turmoil and the ouster of President Carlos Andres Perez suddenly transformed a glowing example of successful economic liberalization into a gloomy reminder of the political costs of market reforms." "In rich and illuminating detail, the book analyzes this transformation and the consequences of the new policies that were meant to deal with the deepest economic crisis in Venezuela's history. The crisis was a classic and instructive example for governments everywhere that are undergoing the transition toward markets and away from state intervention. The author examines the initial impact of the reforms on the country's economy and the social situation, including the practical problems and the politics of implementing social "safety nets" to help the poor cope with the harsh burdens of economic adjustments. The book deals forthrightly with the central challenges to economic reform: the military and its reaction to reform and instability; the link between economic liberalization and corruption; the emergence of "media barons" as a political force brandishing unprecedented power; the inability of the government to communicate effectively with the people and build support for the reforms; the effects of the fierce rivalries that broke out among private economic groups; the demise of Carlos Andres Perez, once the most popular and powerful of the country's political leaders." "This engrossing reconstruction and interpretation of the Venezuelan experience is filled with lessons, insights, and deeper questions for all who enter the labyrinth determined to distinguish between the paper tigers and minotaurs that confront economic and political change."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Author : Ricardo Hausmann,Francisco R. Rodríguez
Publisher : Penn State Press
Page : 549 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 2015-06-13
Category : History
ISBN : 9780271064642

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Venezuela Before Chávez by Ricardo Hausmann,Francisco R. Rodríguez Pdf

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Venezuela had one of the poorest economies in Latin America, but by 1970 it had become the richest country in the region and one of the twenty richest countries in the world, ahead of countries such as Greece, Israel, and Spain. Between 1978 and 2001, however, Venezuela’s economy went sharply in reverse, with non-oil GDP declining by almost 19 percent and oil GDP by an astonishing 65 percent. What accounts for this drastic turnabout? The editors of Venezuela Before Chávez, who each played a policymaking role in the country’s economy during the past two decades, have brought together a group of economists and political scientists to examine systematically the impact of a wide range of factors affecting the economy’s collapse, from the cost of labor regulation and the development of financial markets to the weakening of democratic governance and the politics of decisions about industrial policy. Aside from the editors, the contributors are Omar Bello, Adriana Bermúdez, Matías Braun, Javier Corrales, Jonathan Di John, Rafael Di Tella, Javier Donna, Samuel Freije, Dan Levy, Robert MacCulloch, Osmel Manzano, Francisco Monaldi, María Antonia Moreno, Daniel Ortega, Michael Penfold, José Pineda, Lant Pritchett, Cameron A. Shelton, and Dean Yang.

Author : Javier Corrales,Michael Penfold
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 209 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2011-02-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9780815705024

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Dragon in the Tropics by Javier Corrales,Michael Penfold Pdf

Since he was first elected in 1999, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez Frías has reshaped a frail but nonetheless pluralistic democracy into a semi-authoritarian regime—an outcome achieved with spectacularly high oil income and widespread electoral support. This eye-opening book illuminates one of the most sweeping and unexpected political transformations in contemporary Latin America. Based on more than fifteen years' experience in researching and writing about Venezuela, Javier Corrales and Michael Penfold have crafted a comprehensive account of how the Chávez regime has revamped the nation, with a particular focus on its political transformation. Throughout, they take issue with conventional explanations. First, they argue persuasively that liberal democracy as an institution was not to blame for the rise of chavismo. Second, they assert that the nation's economic ailments were not caused by neoliberalism. Instead they blame other factors, including a dependence on oil, which caused macroeconomic volatility; political party fragmentation, which triggered infighting; government mismanagement of the banking crisis, which led to more centralization of power; and the Asian crisis of 1997, which devastated Venezuela's economy at the same time that Chávez ran for president. It is perhaps on the role of oil that the authors take greatest issue with prevailing opinion. They do not dispute that dependence on oil can generate political and economic distortions—the "resource curse" or "paradox of plenty" arguments—but they counter that oil alone fails to explain Chávez's rise. Instead they single out a weak framework of checks and balances that allowed the executive branch to extract oil rents and distribute them to the populace. The real culprit behind Chávez's success, they write, was the asymmetry of political power.

Author : Jana Morgan
Publisher : Penn State Press
Page : 384 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2011
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780271050621

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Bankrupt Representation and Party System Collapse by Jana Morgan Pdf

"Explores the phenomenon of party system collapse through a detailed examination of Venezuela's traumatic party system decay, as well as a comparative analysis of collapse in Bolivia, Colombia, and Argentina and survival in Argentina, India, Uruguay, and Belgium"--Provided by publisher.

Author : Robert J. Art,Louise Richardson
Publisher : US Institute of Peace Press
Page : 668 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2007
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1929223935

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Democracy and Counterterrorism by Robert J. Art,Louise Richardson Pdf

A comparative study of the policies, strategies, and instruments employed by various democratic governments in the fight against terrorism.

Author : Peter Lambert
Publisher : Springer
Page : 245 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2006-11-27
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780230601727

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Political Violence and the Construction of National Identity in Latin America by Peter Lambert Pdf

This topical volume seeks to analyze the intimate but under-studied relationship between the construction of national identity in Latin America, and the violent struggle for political power that has defined Latin American history since independence. The result is an original, fascinating contribution to an increasingly important field of study.

Author : Kurt Weyland
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 353 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2021-01-12
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780691223438

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The Politics of Market Reform in Fragile Democracies by Kurt Weyland Pdf

This book takes a powerful new approach to a question central to comparative politics and economics: Why do some leaders of fragile democracies attain political success--culminating in reelection victories--when pursuing drastic, painful economic reforms while others see their political careers implode? Kurt Weyland examines, in particular, the surprising willingness of presidents in four Latin American countries to enact daring reforms and the unexpected resultant popular support. He argues that only with the robust cognitive-psychological insights of prospect theory can one fully account for the twists and turns of politics and economic policy in Argentina, Brazil, Peru, and Venezuela during the 1980s and 1990s. Assessing conventional approaches such as rational choice, Weyland concludes that prospect theory is vital to any systematic attempt to understand the politics of market reform. Under this theory, if actors perceive themselves to be in a losing situation they are inclined toward risks; if they see a winning situation around them, they prefer caution. In Latin America, Weyland finds, where the public faced an open crisis it backed draconian reforms. And where such reforms yielded an apparent economic recovery, many citizens and their leaders perceived prospects of gains. Successful leaders thus won reelection and the new market model achieved political sustainability. Weyland concludes this accessible book by considering when his novel approach can be used to study crises generally and how it might be applied to a wider range of cases from Latin America, Africa, and Eastern Europe.

Author : Jason Seawright
Publisher : Stanford University Press
Page : 311 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 2012-10-24
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780804783927

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Party-System Collapse by Jason Seawright Pdf

Most party systems are relatively stable over time. Yet in the 1980s and 1990s, established party systems in Peru and Venezuela broke down, leading to the elections of outsider Alberto Fujimori and anti-party populist Hugo Chavez. Focusing on these two cases, this book explores the causes of systemic collapse. To date, scholars have pointed to economic crises, the rise of the informal economy, and the charisma and political brilliance of Fujimori and Chavez to explain the changes in Peru and Venezuela. This book uses economic data, surveys, and experiments to show that these explanations are incomplete. Political scientist Jason Seawright argues that party-system collapse is motivated fundamentally by voter anger at the traditional political parties, which is produced by corruption scandals and failures of representation. Integrating economic, organizational, and individual considerations, Seawright provides a new explanation and compelling new evidence to present a fuller picture of voters' decisions and actions in bringing about party-system collapse, and the rise of important outsider political leaders in South America.

Author : Geo Maher
Publisher : Duke University Press
Page : 347 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2013-04-17
Category : History
ISBN : 9780822378938

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We Created Chávez by Geo Maher Pdf

Since being elected president in 1998, Hugo Chávez has become the face of contemporary Venezuela and, more broadly, anticapitalist revolution. George Ciccariello-Maher contends that this focus on Chávez has obscured the inner dynamics and historical development of the country’s Bolivarian Revolution. In We Created Chávez, by examining social movements and revolutionary groups active before and during the Chávez era, Ciccariello-Maher provides a broader, more nuanced account of Chávez’s rise to power and the years of activism that preceded it. Based on interviews with grassroots organizers, former guerrillas, members of neighborhood militias, and government officials, Ciccariello-Maher presents a new history of Venezuelan political activism, one told from below. Led by leftist guerrillas, women, Afro-Venezuelans, indigenous people, and students, the social movements he discusses have been struggling against corruption and repression since 1958. Ciccariello-Maher pays particular attention to the dynamic interplay between the Chávez government, revolutionary social movements, and the Venezuelan people, recasting the Bolivarian Revolution as a long-term and multifaceted process of political transformation.

Author : Steve Ellner,Daniel Hellinger
Publisher : Lynne Rienner Publishers
Page : 274 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2004
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1588262979

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Venezuelan Politics in the Chávez Era by Steve Ellner,Daniel Hellinger Pdf

The radical alteration of the political landscape in Venezuela following the electoral triumph of the controversial Hugo Chavez calls for a fresh look at the country s institutions and policies. In response, this title offers a revisionist view of Venezuela's recent political history and a fresh appraisal of the Chavez administration.

Author : Talton F. Ray
Publisher : Univ of California Press
Page : 234 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2022-02-25
Category : History
ISBN : 9780520325982

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The Politics of the Barrios of Venezuela by Talton F. Ray Pdf

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1969.

Author : Scott Mainwaring
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 525 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2018-02-08
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781107175525

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Party Systems in Latin America by Scott Mainwaring Pdf

This book generates a wealth of new empirical information about Latin American party systems and contributes richly to major theoretical debates about party systems and democracy.