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

party-government coherence have both decayed visibly in recent years, with serious implications
for the ability of either the executive or the congress to act effectively and with reasonable
dispatch. Additional problems stem from the emergence of groups of elected officials whose
claims to legitimacy rest on different and somewhat conflicting bases. Governors, mayors, and
municipal councilors, for example, who are elected by name, contrast their supposedly more
direct link to the people with members of congress, elected on closed lists through a proportional
representation system. The long-term legitimacy and effectiveness of the democratic system
requires that electoral reform continue until all levels of the political system operate under
comparable rules.
The electorate’s general lack of response to new electoral opportunities suggests a
widening communication gap between the parties and the electorate. The sudden outbreak of
intense violence on February 27, 1989 in which all parties saw themselves overtaken by events, 1
as well as the sporadic turnout at a series of public rallies intended to encourage popular
participation, are evidence of a widening gap. This may lead to a situation in which the parties,
their leadership, and their programs become gradually disengaged from the population, and
where reforms are simply added to a set of institutions, interests, and procedures that are alien to
the very people they were created to represent.
The fact that proposals for political and electoral reform have emerged in a context of
crisis has important implications for the future. On one hand, this crisis atmosphere spurs
support for reforms that are widely perceived (at least in the political class) as an important ‘cure’
for a set of ills. It also reveals a needed capacity for self-critical reflection on the part of the main
actors in the political system, as well as an ability for adapting the system to new challenges. On
the other hand, this critical environment also places high (likely exaggerated) hopes in the
capacity of institutional engineering (including modifications of the electoral system) to solve
problems whose roots extend well beyond the electoral arena. Popular pressure for change may
lead to hasty decision-making, to the detriment of the quality and consequences of the decisions
taken.
The Venezuelan political system has arrived at a difficult juncture. Reforms already
enacted indicate the existence of a will to change and an important level of self-criticism, together
with a healthy awareness of the necessity of conserving the many positive aspects of the system.
They also suggest that in spite of its serious shortcoming, the Venezuelan political system is not
‘frozen’ or ‘petrified’ (see Karl 1987 and Martz 1982), but instead is demonstrating initiative and
flexibility for undertaking change leading to a deepening of democracy in that country.
1 Two instructive collections of articles and photographs from El Nacional (a leading Caracas
daily newspaper) are 27 de febrero: Cuando la muerte tomo las calles (Caracas: Editorial Ateneo
de Caracas, 1990) and El día que bajaron los cerros (Caracas: Editorial Ateneo de Caracas,
1990).