Abstract

VALDES DIAZ, José René. Party System in Today's Venezuela. Breaking with or Maintaining the Traditional Model?. UH [online]. 2017, n.284, pp.118-135. ISSN 0253-9276.

In this paper, party systems, their types according to the number of relevant parties, ideological distance between these, degree of party institutionalization, synergy between parties and other actors in political system, and possible transformation of a given party system into another are theoretically examined. On the basis of these assumptions, historical background to the current party system in Venezuela is looked at, and the role supposedly played by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Spanish: Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela, PSUV) which ideologically supports the Bolivarian Revolution is stressed. Attitude adopted by the opposition after Hugo Chávez won the Venezuelan presidential election for the first time in 1999 and until the present day is examined as well, with emphasis being put on the time after his death. The evolution of the Venezuelan party system is analyzed, on the basis of the latest election results. It is also stressed that, after Parliamentary elections held in Venezuela on 6 December 2015, the Right and Left and executive and legislative branches have clashed repeatedly and strongly.

Keywords : Democracy; Elections; Political Parties.

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