Venezuela: The Life and Times of the Party System - Political ...

number of voters, the electoral system has functioned as an effective channel to incorporate the
general population as well as more organized sectors into the political arena.
On the other hand, the electoral system in force through most of the democratic period
creates or reinforces certain problems in the political system. The effect of the closed list system
in concentrating candidate selection and overall decision-making authority in the hands of
national party directorates reduces citizen control over the internal dynamics of the parties and
over the performance of elected officials. The demands of party discipline further limit the
responsiveness of elected officials to popular demands. The high cost of campaigning also
creates financial barriers to the participation of political groups with fewer resources. As a result,
the system does not guarantee political or electoral ‘fair play’ and facilitates the oligopolization of
the political game (see Rey 1989b).
Universal suffrage and mandatory voting have been fundamental principles of
Venezuelan democracy. In Venezuela, the act of voting has been viewed as a fundamental civic
duty, not simply a right (see Rey 1989c). After 1958, voting was further viewed as an “expression
of an emotional commitment of adherence to democracy,” and the first elections were considered
to be “plebiscites in favor of democracy” (Rey 1989c, 21). 1 Failure to vote was viewed as a
crime deserving punishment.
The 1961 constitution established a system that has been relatively successful at
combining presidentialism, based on a simple majority principle, with proportional representation
at the legislative level. 2 Elections for senators and deputies are governed by the principle of
proportional representation. The liberal nature of the proportional representation system as well
as the low barriers established for the creation of new parties have been effective sources of
incorporation and legitimacy for the democratic system. 3 Prior to the adoption of the Second
Constitutional Amendment, which took effect in 1983, this principle was applied in municipal
1 The Pact of Punto Fijo reads as follows: “All votes bestowed on the democratic candidacies
will be considered as one, and the sum of votes for the competing colors [parties] as an
affirmation of the people’s support for the constitutional regime and the consolidation of the rule of
law.”
2 Recent studies on the impact of institutional factors on the establishment, consolidation, and
maintenance of democracy have called attention to the different effects of presidentialism and
parliamentarism on regime stability. See Linz (1990) and Mainwaring (1990). It has also been
argued that the combination of presidentialism and proportional representation creates instability
and crises of governability. Venezuela is an exception to both arguments, due in general terms to
the hegemony of AD and COPEI: that is, to party discipline, de facto two-party politics, and the
nonpolarized nature of ideological debate, as well as to efforts made to reach accords and parainstitutional
pacts that complement strictly electoral mechanisms and results.
3 The electoral system is so liberal that it has allowed groups winning less than 1 percent of
the vote in their districts to win seats in the Chamber of Deputies. To register state-level parties it
is necessary to present a roster of members equivalent to no less than 0.5 percent of the total of
registered voters in the specific district. If a party registers in at least 12 states, it is automatically
constituted as a national party. Also, any group of voters that obtained at least 3 percent of the
vote in the previous state or national elections can legally become a party [Ley de Partidos
Políticos, Reuniones Públicas y Manifestaciones, articles 10, 16, 17].