ABSTRACT
There are three critical and inter-related concepts that have to be addressed in order to add to existing accounts of the decline of the political system in Venezuela. The first relates to the role of political pacts and the extent to which they assist in the transition to and subsequent consolidation of democracy. The second addresses the behaviour of parties. In Rational Choice theory, it is assumed that the 'logic' of party competition drives parties to respond to popular interests for electoral gain. This was not the case in Venezuela where the leading parties remained detached from expressed and non-articulated social pressure for reform. The third issue relates to the classification of the political regime in Venezuela and the extent to which it can be categorised as 'democratic'. The political system installed in 1958 openly demonstrated the procedural elements of a liberal democracy or using the terminology of Dahl, a 'polyarchy'.
