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The emergence of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela has revived analysis of one of Latin America's most enduring political traditions - populism. Yet Latin America has changed since the heyday of Perón and Evita. Globalisation, implemented through harsh IMF inspired Structural Adjustment Programmes, has taken hold throughout the region and democracy is supposedly the 'only game in town'. This book examines the phenomenon that is Hugo Chávez within these contexts, assessing to what extent his government fits into established ideas on populism in Latin America. The book also provides a comprehensive and critical analysis of Chávez's emergence, his government's social and economic policies, its foreign policy, as well as assessing the charges of authoritarianism brought against him. Written in clear, accessible prose, the book carries debate beyond current polarised views on the Venezuelan president, to consider the prospects of the new Bolivarian model surviving beyond its leader and progenitor, Hugo Chávez.
List of contents
List of tables
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Populism and Latin America: context, causes, characteristics and consequences
2. Structural fractures, crises, the state and the emergence of Chávez
3. The leader and the led: hegemonic strategies in the leadership of Hugo Chávez
4. Populism, globalisation and the socio-economic policies of the Chávez government
5. Democrat or authoritarian? Human rights, institutional autonomy and popular
participation under the government of Fujimori and Chávez
6. The consequences and impact of populism: institutionalisation and democratization
in Chávez's Venezuela
7. Venezuelan international relations in the age of globalisation
Conclusion: populism and democracy in a globalised age
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Barry Cannon is a Post-doctoral Fellow at the School of Law and Government, Dublin City University
