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).
Following the settlement of the revolutionary conflicts that long plagued the region, the left was able to reach power through elections. But the results have been discouraging.
Over the last two decades, Latin America has seen more than a dozen presidencies come to a premature end. It is time to consider changing constitutional designs that promote conflict…
