Venezuela – Dimensions of the Crisis: A Perspective on Democratic Backsliding

Description

The book is devoted to the subject of Venezuela's politics and the different dimensions of its longstanding crisis, with various researchers exchanging ideas on the current problems affecting the country. It is the first comprehensive overview on the dimensions of Venezuela’s current crisis written in English, thus filling an important research gap. Especially the participation of international, well-known scholars make it a global enterprise. The book covers historical and theoretical facts surrounding the case of Venezuela and also focuses on the parties and actors that play decisive roles in the conflict. Subjects include the military, public administration, ideology, the opposition, the party landscape along with its crisis and Venezuela's oil policy. Furthermore the book touches upon international and regional aspects: Venezuela's diplomatic relations with the EU, the USA, Cuba and Colombia, respectively.  The volume addresses a wider audience, such as scholars on Latin American and especially Venezuelan Politics, International Relations, as well as an interested public, including journalists and politicians.  Contents Introduction: Venezuela—Dimensions of the Crisis History and Theory Can an Evolutionary Order Be Schizophrenic? Reading Venezuelan Politics from an Institutionalist Perspective 1 Introduction 1.1 The Problem of Social Order 1.2 Changes in the Institutional Setting 1.3 Predatory Normativity 2 Conclusions References Ideological Aspects of Venezuela’s Current Divide 1 Political Ideologies and Languages 2 Ideological Conflicts in Venezuelan History 3 Opposed Ideological Outlooks in Current Venezuela 4 Conclusions References The Quest for Democracy: Venezuela in the Twentieth and Twentyfirst Centuries 1 Introduction 2 On the Way to Modernity 3 On the Road to Democracy 4 On the Way to the Crisis 5 Economic Crisis and Attempts of Reform 6 Political Crisis 7 The Rise of Hugo Chávez 8 Democratic Backsliding Under Chávez and Maduro 9 Conclusions Bibliography Domestic Dimensions of The Crisis: Actors, Parties and Problems Multiple Crises of the Venezuelan Party System 1 Introduction 2 Chavismo: Hindering Representation 2.1 Incentivizing an Anti-party Culture 2.2 Removing Public Funds for Political Parties 2.3 Control Over the Electoral Management Body 2.4 Manipulating Electoral Rules 2.5 Banning and Party Intervention 2.6 Disqualification of Candidates 2.7 Bribery of Candidates 2.8 Distrust Among Opponents 2.9 Harassment of Opposition Leaders, Party Militants, and Sympathizers 3 Conclusions Appendix Methodological Annex References Discretionality and Disarticulation in the Venezuelan Public Administration 1 Epistemological Assumptions, Theoretical Justifications, and Methodological Guide 1.1 Epistemological Framework 1.2 Theoretical Corpus 1.3 Methodological Approach 2 Legal Frame, Administrative Structure, and Political-administrative Meaning 2.1 Legal Structure and Functioning 2.2 Some Political-economic Analysis and Its Implications 2.3 Organic Law of Public Administration, Heuristics and Biases 3 Organizational Actors and Public Culture 3.1 Three Experiences in the Public Sector 3.2 Some Ideas Derived from Those Experiences 3.3 Features of the Venezuelan Public Culture 4 Political-Administrative Analysis and Guidelines for Change 4.1 Constitutional Principles, Conception of State and Government 4.2 Administrative-organizational Analysis 4.3 A Realizable Agenda for Change (Rectory, Regulations, and Strategies) Appendixes References Venezuela: The Military Factor 1 Introduction 2 Background 3 The Garrison State 4 A Change of Nature 5 Conclusions References International and Regional Dimensions of the Crisis The Role of the EU in the Venezuelan Conflict: Why Did Democracy Promotion Fail? 1 Introduction 2 The EU’s Role as an International Democracy Promoter (and Peacemaker) 3 The Predominance of Negative Incentives in EU Policy Toward Venezuela 3.1 EU-Venezuelan Relations in the Latin America Context: A Gradual Deterioration 3.2 Negative Incentives or the Dominant Policy of Coercion 3.3 Positive Measures: Too Weak to Work as Incentives 4 Conclusions: Why did the EU Policy Fail? References From Monroe to Bolívar and Back? US-Venezuela Relations 1 Introduction 2 Bolívar Versus Monroe? 3 The History of Relations Between Venezuela and the US 4 The Watershed Moment: Chavez’ Rise to Power 5 Spiraling Deterioration: Maduro and US Responses 6 A New Dawn in US-Venezuela Relations Post-Trump? 7 Conclusion References Venezuela, Cuba and United States: Power and Geopolitics in the Great Caribbean 1 Introduction 2 Geopolitics in the Greater Caribbean Basin 3 Cuba-Venezuela-US: Geopolitics at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century 4 Adjustments and Continuities 5 Conclusions References Difficult but Necessary: Venezuela-Colombia Relations Throughout Time—A Historical Depiction of Two Specially Connected Neighbors 1 Introduction 2 Challenges and Problems of Bilateral Policy: Theoretical Approach 3 What Have Been Venezuela and Colombia’s Main Challenges and Problems in Their Bilateral Relations?—A Historical Overview 3.1 From Tense Delimitation to Cooperation—La Gran Colombia and Independence (1819–1980s) 3.2 A Decade of Cooperation (1989–1998) 3.3 Critical Junctures in Binational Relations (1999–2002) 3.4 Radical Ideological Differences: The Bolivarian Project vs. Democratic Security (2002–2010) 3.5 Rapprochement and Renewed Cooperation (2010–2013) 3.6 Radical Turn and Renewed Deterioration of Bilateral Ties (2013–2018) 3.7 Further Bilateral Estrangement and the Worsening Crisis Since 2018 4 Conclusions and Final Remarks References Conclusions: Dimensions of the Crisis and Future Prospects