The Crossroads of Democracy in Venezuela: the Emergence of the Popular Power

Abstract

The paper analyzes one of the main political instruments of the current regime of President Chávez in Venezuela: the Popular Power, as a new conception of democracy within socialist model. We studied the origins of such instrument and its current legal framework, in order to demonstrate how Popular Power constitutes a violation of constitutional concept of democracy, due to its lack of freedom and pluralism. The Popular Power is articulated in the Laws promulgated in 2010, as an organization that acts under the political control of the National Government, with the sole purpose of the consolidation of the socialism and the construction of a “new” State, the “Communal State”. According to the Laws of the Popular Power, socialism is not only the political doctrine of the Government’s party, but also the political doctrine of the State, that excludes any form of political participation different to the ones executed through the organizations of the Popular Power and for the promotion of socialism. In the end, the emergence of the Popular Power in Venezuela demonstrates the risk of the manipulation of the language of democracy for political purposes that are the antithesis of democracy.

Keywords

• Democracy
• pluralism
• representative regime
• participatory democracy
• socialism
• Popular Power