ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the evolution of Venezuela’s outsider-led process under Hugo Chávez, highlighting how it evolved from a period of progressive centralization to regressive centralization. To contextualize this evolution, the changing relative balance of powers between the left-led government and an oppositional bloc comprising domestic and transnational forces, both of whom used an array of institutional and extra-institutional tactics to achieve their agendas/limit their opponents, is analyzed. Moreover, the chapter discusses how a general lack of popular sector autonomy from the newly created left-party meant that bottom-up critique of illiberal behaviors on the part of party officials was limited. The analysis and empirical data offered in the chapter shed new light on discussions regarding the successes and shortcomings of Venezuela’s post-neoliberal process, move beyond simple description of outcomes by offering theoretical analysis as to why the process simultaneously advanced and damaged democratic quality, as well as adding nuance to discussions regarding the potential for vanguardist-type processes to leave positive legacies in terms of popular sector organizational capacity.
