Venezuela under Hugo Chávez - en mätning av demokrati

Sammanfattning: The present state of politics in contemporary Venezuela portrays a country of polarization, a chase for power and accusations of authoritarian and even undemocratic rule. The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to examine the democracy in Venezuela, in order to clarify the sometimes vauge perception of the political situation. By applying the theories of polyarchical democracy put forth by Robert Dahl, one of the most highly regarded theorists on the subject, accordingly the discussion will therefore follow a theoretical framework. Dahl requires seven nstitutions to be guaranteed in a democracy, amongst them the possibility to vote, run for public office and the practise of freedom of speech. Measuring Dahl's levels of institutions in Venezuela, it is made clear that the level of democracy vary in different areas. The levels of the elections are proven worthy for a democracy, but the result is different when measuring political freedoms. Limitations in forms of governmental repression against freedom of speech and organizational freedoms demonstrate Venezuela's deficiencies that in turn leave the country failing in terms of reaching the level required for democracy.