Has Venezuelan Decentralization survived Chavismo?

The article analyzes the recent phase of Venezuelan democracy, with a particular focus on the transformations and challenges related to decentralization. The development and proceedings of the movement around Chávez (Chavismo) and its connections to the political process are discussed, as well as certain aspects of populist political leadership and how these elements are related to (and in conflict with) the decentralization process. The populism and power concentration of the Chávez movement constitute a source of conflict for certain democratization principles of decentralization. The decentralization process is emphasized as both a kind of historical context and a focus of analysis. The context of the article is the Venezuelan political party system whereas decentralization constitutes the independent variable. It will be demonstrated that the Venezuelan two-party system had been undermined by the decentralization process already before the rise of Chavismo. Both Chavismo and a majority of the political opposition movements and are thus partly rooted in the decentralization process itself