The Role of Political Parties in Venezuela’s Political Culture

Abstract

The main role of parties in Venezuelan political culture has been historically interrupted by the “Andean hegemony” dictatorships (1899‑1945) and “perezjimenismo” (1948‑1958). With the return to democracy in 1958, parties resumed their role as key political actors, but it began to deteriorate in the early 1980’s, having declined significantly during the current government of Lieutenant‑Colonel Hugo Chávez Frías. In this paper, we analyze the history and prospects of partisan influence in Venezuelan political culture, with special emphasis on the second half of the twentieth century.

Keywords

• Parties
• political culture
• “andean hegemony”
• “perezjimenismo” democratic transition
• “polyarchy”
• “partyarchy”