Chavismo, Liberal Democracy, and Radical Democracy

Abstract

Scholars studying Hugo Chávez and his movement are generally divided into two camps: a liberal one that sees Chavismo as an instance of democratic backsliding and a radical one that upholds Chavismo as the fulfillment of its aspirations for participatory democracy. Boundaries are not fixed, but the two sides generally fail to understand each other's assumptions or to acknowledge each other's criticisms. The result has been a less productive body of scholarly work on both sides.