A review of Strong Parties and Lame Ducks: Presidential Partyarchy and Factionalism in Venezuela, by Michael Coppedge and Democracy for the Privileged: Crisis and Transition in Venezuela, by Richard S. Hillman.
About the Author
Anibal Romero is a research affiliate at the John M. Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University, where he was a visiting scholar at the Center for Latin American Studies in 1995. He is on temporary leave from Simón Bolivar University in Caracas, Venezuela, where he is a full professor of political science. His many books include The Decline and Prospects of Venezuelan Democracy (in Spanish, 1994).
The question of succession is a tricky one for populist leaders. In Ecuador, it has produced a surprising reversal for Rafael Correa, who had thoroughly dominated the political scene for the past…
Ecuador was already besieged by crime and violence. Now it faces a populist president whose “strong hand” policies show little success. They may do even more damage to the country’s…
