ABSTRACT
Venezuela's conversion to democratic politics occurred in 1958 with the ouster of dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez. Unlike Cuba, Venezuela instituted a system of democratic politics encompassing strong party organizations, regular and impartial elections, vital competition between candidates and political parties, and guaranteed political freedoms. Voting is by simple party ballots, prepared and distributed by the Supreme Electoral Council. All of Venezuela's political parties are "modern" ones, created either to promote the democratic experience or having resulted from it. Modern Venezuelan parties were conceived as mass-based parties, instruments to mobilize large numbers of people. Venezuelan politics began to dissipate, control became more fragmented and competition more diverse. Contemporary Venezuelan political parties originated during the dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gomez, who ruled from 1908 to 1935. The Venezuelan Federation of Students was dissolved on several occasions by Gomez, but in 1927 it was again reorganized by the students and it served as a vehicle for those opposed to the dictatorship.
