The Drift Watch

Venezuela – Hugo Chávez & Nicolás Maduro

Venezuela's descent from democracy into authoritarianism under Hugo Chávez and his successor Nicolás Maduro is one of the most prominent examples of democratic erosion through populism, legal manipulation, and institutional capture in the 21st century. Initially elected through free and fair elections in 1998, Chávez leveraged widespread dissatisfaction with corruption and inequality to consolidate power, rewrite the constitution, and build a personality cult around himself.

After Chávez’s death in 2013, Maduro continued and deepened the authoritarian trajectory. Although elections persisted on paper, they became increasingly uncompetitive, with opposition parties banned, voter rolls manipulated, and political prisoners detained. The state gained near-total control of the judiciary, media, and electoral institutions.

Today, Venezuela functions as a de facto one-party authoritarian state, despite retaining the formal structure of a democracy.

Timeline of Key Events

  • 1998: Chávez elected president on an anti-elite, populist platform.
  • 1999: New constitution passed via referendum; expanded executive power and created a new unicameral legislature.
  • 2004: Supreme Court expanded from 20 to 32 justices, packed with Chávez loyalists.
  • 2007: Constitutional referendum to eliminate term limits fails but is reintroduced and passed in 2009.
  • 2013: Chávez dies; Nicolás Maduro assumes power.
  • 2015: Opposition wins legislative majority; Maduro responds by creating a parallel legislature (Constituent Assembly) to bypass it.
  • 2018: Maduro re-elected in a widely condemned election; major opposition parties banned or boycotted.
  • 2019–2023: Political repression intensifies amid economic collapse, with mass emigration, hyperinflation, and international isolation.

Methods of Democratic Erosion

  • Media Suppression

    Government or ruling party control over broadcast, print, and digital media to shape public narrative and suppress dissent.

  • Judicial Subordination

    Undermining judicial independence by appointing loyal judges or purging dissenting ones.

  • Electoral Manipulation

    Interference with democratic elections through voter suppression, gerrymandering, or control over electoral commissions.

  • Militarization and Police State

    The expansion of state security forces into domestic governance, often through militarized policing, protest crackdowns, surveillance, and the use of force to control civil dissent and enforce political loyalty.

  • Economic Coercion

    The use of state-controlled resources (food, welfare, jobs, infrastructure) to create dependency, reward political loyalty, and punish dissent — transforming public goods into tools of authoritarian control.

Impact on Institutions

  • Judiciary: Serves as a rubber stamp for presidential authority; completely aligned with the executive.
  • Elections: Reduced to symbolic functions with preordained results.
  • Legislature: Opposition-led National Assembly rendered powerless by creation of parallel Constituent Assembly.
  • Media: Independent voices marginalized; state narratives dominate.
  • Civil Society: Repressed through legal, economic, and violent means; NGOs labeled as “foreign agents.”


References

Corrales, Javier and Penfold, Michael. Dragon in the Tropics: Venezuela and the Legacy of Hugo Chávez. Brookings Institution Press, 2015.

Freedom House, Venezuela Country Report – 2023
 https://freedomhouse.org/country/venezuela/freedom-world/2023

Human Rights Watch, Venezuela: Events of 2022
 https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2023/country-chapters/venezuela

The New York Times, How Venezuela Went From a Rich Democracy to a Dictatorship
 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/24/world/americas/venezuela-chavez-maduro-dictatorship.html

Al Jazeera, Timeline: Venezuela’s Political Crisis
 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/1/23/timeline-venezuelas-political-crisis

U.S. State Department, Report on Human Rights Practices: Venezuela
 https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/venezuela

International Crisis Group, Power Without the People: A Snapshot of Venezuela’s Authoritarian Rule, 2021.