Award Date

5-2013

Degree Type

Honors Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Political Science

Advisor 1

John Tuman

Advisor 2

Miram Melton­Vilanueva

Advisor 3

Andrew Hanso

Number of Pages

48

Abstract

The charismatic authority of Hugo Chávez often led analysts to affirm that the Bolivarian Revolution was dependent on his leadership. This study attempts to assess the degree of that dependence by examining whether the Bolivarian Revolution has institutionalized or not. Three variables were examined: the discourse of President Chávez, the political unity of PSUV deputies in the National Assembly, and the bypass of the electoral framework by Chávez. Two hypotheses were then formulated. The first one stipulated that the aspects of movementism found in the Bolivarian Revolution were relevant enough to disqualify it as an institutionalized system. The second one stipulated that the Bolivarian Revolution had, however, made efforts to institutionalize that qualify it as a system in transition. The revolution was found to be only partially institutionalized as the bypass of the electoral framework by President Chávez was both a violation of institutionalized democracy and participatory democracy. A discussion of findings follow.

Keywords

Political science; Revolutions; Social movements; Social movements--Political aspects

Disciplines

Other Political Science | Political History | Political Science | Social Influence and Political Communication

Language

English

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