Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T22:30:27.766Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Who Mobilizes? Participatory Democracy in Chávez's Bolivarian Revolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Abstract

This article assesses popular mobilization under the Chávez government's participatory initiatives in Venezuela using data from the AmericasBarometer survey of 2007. This is the first study of the so-called Bolivarian initiatives using nationally representative, individual-level data. The results provide a mixed assessment. Most of the government's programs invite participation from less active segments of society, such as women, the poor, and the less educated, and participation in some programs is quite high. However, much of this participation clusters within a narrow group of activists, and a disproportionate number of participants are Chávez supporters. This partisan bias probably reflects self-screening by Venezuelans who accept Chávez's radical populist discourse and leftist ideology, rather than vote buying or other forms of open conditionality. Thus, the Venezuelan case suggests some optimism for proponents of participatory democracy, but also the need to be more attuned to its practical political limits.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 2010

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

Abers, Rebecca. 2000. Inventing Local Democracy. Boulder : Lynne Rienner.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Avritzer, Leonardo. 2002. Democracy and the Public Sphere in Latin America. Princeton : Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Barber, Benjamin R. 1984. Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age. Berkeley : University of California Press.Google Scholar
Buxton, Julia. 2001. The Failure of Political Reform in Venezuela. Burlington : Ashgate.Google Scholar
Campos, Paulina. 2006. National Coordinator, Misión Sucre. Communication with author. February 1.Google Scholar
Chávez, Daniel, and Goldfrank, Benjamin, eds. 2004. The Left in the City: Participatory Local Governments in Latin America. London : Latin American Bureau.Google Scholar
Corrales, Javier, and Penfold, Michael. 2007. Social Spending and Democracy: the Case of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela. LASA Forum 38, 1: 2022.Google Scholar
De la Cruz, Rafael. 2004. Decentralization: Key to Understanding A Changing Nation. In The Unraveling of Representative Democracy in Venezuela, ed. McCoy, Jennifer L. and Myers, David J.. Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press. 181201.Google Scholar
Ellner, Steve. 1993. The Deepening of Democracy in a Crisis Setting: Political Reform and the Electoral Process in Venezuela. Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 35, 4 (Winter): 142.Google Scholar
Ellner, Steve. 2005. The Emergence of a New Trade Unionism in Venezuela with Vestiges of the past. Latin American Perspectives 32, 2: 5171.Google Scholar
Ellner, Steve, and Hellinger, Daniel, eds. 2003. Venezuelan Politics in the Chávez Era: Class, Polarization, and Conflict. Boulder : Lynne Rienner.Google Scholar
Fernandes, Sujatha. Forthcoming. Radio Bemba in an Age of Electronic Media: the Dynamics of Popular Communication in Chávez's Venezuela. In Smilde and Hellinger forthcoming.Google Scholar
García, María Pilar. 1992. The Venezuelan Ecology Movement: Symbolic Effectiveness, Social Practices, and Political Strategies. In The Making of Social Movements in Latin America: Identity, Strategy, and Democracy, ed. Escobar, Arturo and Alvarez, Sonia E.. Boulder : Westview Press. Chapter 9, 150–70.Google Scholar
García-Guadilla, María Pilar. 2007a. Ciudadanía y autonomía en las organizaciones sociales bolivarianas: los Comités de Tierra Urbana como movimientos sociales. Cuadernos del CENDES 24, 3: 4773.Google Scholar
García-Guadilla, María Pilar. 2007b. El poder popular y la democracia participativa en Venezuela: los Consejos Comunales. Paper presented at the 27th International Conference of the Latin American Studies Association, Montreal, September 5–8.Google Scholar
Goldfrank, Benjamin. 2007. Lessons from Latin America's Experience with Participatory Budgeting. In Shah 2007. 91126.Google Scholar
Goldfrank, Benjamin. 2008. The Left and Participatory Democracy: Scaling up or Scaling Back? Paper presented at the conference “Latin America's Left Turn: Causes and Implications,” Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University, April 4–5.Google Scholar
Goldfrank, Benjamin, and Schneider, Aaron. 2006. Competitive Institution Building: the Pt and Participatory Budgeting in Rio Grande do Sul. Latin American Politics and Society 48, 3 (Fall): 132.Google Scholar
Hawkins, Eliza Tanner. 2006. Community Media in Venezuela. Paper presented at the 26th Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, San Juan, Puerto Rico, March 15–18.Google Scholar
Hawkins, Kirk A. 2010. Venezuela's Chavismo and Populism in Comparative Perspective. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hawkins, Kirk A., and Hansen, David R.. 2006. Dependent Civil Society: the Bolivarian Circles in Venezuela. Latin American Research Review 41, 1: 102–32.Google Scholar
Hawkins, Kirk A., Rosas, Guillermo, and Johnson, Michael E.. Forthcoming. The Misiones of the Chávez Government. In Smilde and Hellinger forthcoming.Google Scholar
Hawkins, Kirk A. Jane Ann Patch, Adam Anguiano, and Seligson, Mitchell A.. 2008. Political Culture of Democracy in Venezuela, 2007. Nashville : Latin American Public Opinion Project, Vanderbilt University. http://www.vanderbilt.edu/lapop.Google Scholar
Held, David. 2006. Models of Democracy. 3rd ed. Stanford : Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Hsieh, Chiang-Tai, Miguel, Edward, Ortega, Daniel, and Rodríguez, Francisco. 2007. The Price of Political Opposition: Evidence from Venezuela's Maisanta. Unpublished mss.Google Scholar
Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE). 2008. Población total, según grupo de edad, 1990–2015. http://www.ine.gob.ve/poblacion/distribucion.asp.Google Scholar
Lewis-Beck, Michael S., and Paldam, Martin. 2000. Economic Voting: an Introduction. Electoral Studies 19: 113–21.Google Scholar
López Maya, Margarita. 2008. Caracas: the State, Popular Participation, and How to Make Things Work. Paper presented at the Yale Conference “The Popular Sectors and the State in Chávez's Venezuela,” New Haven, March 6–8.Google Scholar
Lovera, Alberto. 2008. Los consejos comunales en Venezuela: ¿Democracia participativa o delegativa Revista Venezolana de Economía y Ciencias Sociales 14, 1: 107–24.Google Scholar
Martín, Guillermo. 2000. La República Bolivariana: ¿Relaciones intergubernamentales en el siglo Xxi venezolano Perfiles Latinoamericanos 17 (December): 123–51.Google Scholar
Mascareño, Carlos. 2000. Balance de la descentralización en Venezuela: logros, limitaciones y perspectivas. Caracas : Nueva Sociedad.Google Scholar
McCoy, Jennifer L., and Myers, David J., eds. 2004. The Unraveling of Representative Democracy in Venezuela. Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Merolla, Jennifer L., Ramos, Jennifer M., and Zechmeister, Elizabeth J.. 2006. Crisis, Charisma, and Consequences: Evidence from the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election. Journal of Politics 69, 1: 3042.Google Scholar
Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Comunicación y la Información (MINCI). 2007. Inaugurados siete nuevos Centros de Diagnóstico, seis Salas de Rehabilitación y dos Centros de Alta Tecnología. http://www.minci.gob.ve/noticias_prensa/28/16029/inaugurados_siete_nuevos.html.Google Scholar
Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Participación y Protección Social (MPS). 2007. 100 mil Consejos Comunales constituidos es la meta para el 2008. http://www.consejoscomunales.gob.ve/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=130&Itemid=73.Google Scholar
Navarro, Zander. 2004. Participatory Budgeting in Porto Alegre, Brazil. In Leadership and Innovation in Subnational Government: Case Studies from Latin America, ed. Campbell, Tim and Fuhr, Harold. Washington , DC : World Bank Institute.Google Scholar
Nylen, William R. 2002. Testing the Empowerment Thesis: the Participatory Budget in Belo Horizonte and Betim, Brazil. Comparative Politics 34, 2: 127–45.Google Scholar
Ortega, Daniel, and Rodríguez, Francisco. 2008. Freed from Illiteracy? a Closer Look at Venezuela's Misión Robinson Literacy Campaign. Economic Development and Cultural Change 57, 1: 130.Google Scholar
Pateman, Carole. 1970. Participation and Democratic Theory. New York : Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Penfold-Becerra, Michael. 2007. Clientelism and Social Funds; Evidence from Chávez's Misiones. Latin American Politics and Society 49, 4 (Winter): 6384.Google Scholar
República Bolivariana de Venezuela. 2001. Líneas generales del plan de desarrollo económico y social de la nación 2001–2007. Caracas. http://www.mpd.gob.ve/pdeysn/pdesn.pdf.Google Scholar
Roberts, Kenneth M. 1998. Deepening Democracy? The Modern Left and Social Movements in Chile and Peru. Stanford : Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Rodríguez, Francisco. 2007. Sharing the Oil Wealth? Appraising the Effects of Venezuela's Social Programs. LASA Forum 38, 1: 2225.Google Scholar
Salamanca, Luis. 2004. Civil Society: Late Bloomers. In McCoy and Myers 2004. 93114.Google Scholar
Santos, Boaventura de Sousa. 1998. Budgeting in Porto Alegre: toward a Redistributive Democracy. Politics and Society 26, 4: 461510.Google Scholar
Santos, Boaventura de Sousa, ed. 2005. Democratizing Democracy: Beyond the Liberal Democratic Canon. New York : Verso.Google Scholar
Schiller, Naomi. Forthcoming. Catia Sees You: Community Television, Clientelism, and Everyday Statemaking in the Chávez Era. In Smilde and Hellinger forthcoming.Google Scholar
Schneider, Aaron, and Goldfrank, Benjamin. 2003. Budgets and Ballots in Brazil: Participatory Budgeting from the City to the State. IDS Working Paper 149. Brighton : Institute of Development Studies.Google Scholar
Serageldin, Mona, Driscoll, John, Meléndez San Miguel, Liz, Valenzuela, Luis, Bravo, Consuelo, Solloso, Elda, Solá-Morales, Clara, and Watkin, Thomas. 2003. Assessment of Participatory Budgeting in Brazil. Cambridge/;Washington , DC : Center for Urban Development Studies, Harvard University/Inter-American Development Bank.Google Scholar
Shah, Anwar, ed. 2007. Participatory Budgeting. Washington , DC : World Bank.Google Scholar
Smilde, David, and Hellinger, Daniel, eds. Forthcoming. Participation, Politics, and Culture in Venezuela's Bolivarian Democracy. Durham : Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Superintendencia Nacional de Cooperativas (SUNACOOP). 2008. Sunacoop ha registrado a 241 mil cooperativas a nivel nacional. http://www.sunacoop.gob.ve.Google Scholar
Verba, Sidney, Lehman Schlozman, Kay, and Brady, Henry E.. 1995. Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics. Cambridge : Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Wagner, Sarah. 2005. Venezuela: Illiteracy Free Territory. Venezuelanalysis, April 21. http://www.venezuelanalysis.com.Google Scholar
Wampler, Brian. 2007a. A Guide to Participatory Budgeting. In Shah 2007. 2154.Google Scholar
Wampler, Brian. 2007b. Participatory Budgeting in Brazil: Contestation, Cooperation, and Accountability. University Park : Pennsylvania State University Press.Google Scholar
Wampler, Brian, and Avritzer, Leonardo. 2004. Participatory Publics: Civil Society and New Institutions in Democratic Brazil. Comparative Politics 36, 3: 291312.Google Scholar
World Bank. 2008. World Development Indicators 2007. CD-ROM. Washington , DC : World Bank.Google Scholar