An Analysis Of The Role Of Venezuelan Social Organizations From The Perspective Of Populism

Populism is an important issue in contemporary politics studies. In Latin America,populism is often utilized by political leaders as a means of political strategy.Meanwhile, in modern society, social organizations are playing an increasinglysignificant role. In Venezuela, Chavismo presents clear evidence of populism. AfterChavez came into power, some grassroots’ organizations rapidly emerged and soonbecame strong supporters to Chavez’s political campaign. Among these organizations,the Communal Council, Bolivarian Circles and Community Media are the typicalmodels. Based on the analysis of these organizations by the “Theory ofDemocratization”, it comes to the conclusion that social organizations play multipleroles in several aspects such as political mobilization, political participation and socialservices in the Populism environment in Venezuela. Although these socialorganizations in Chavez’s Era played the role in promoting political participation in acertain degree, it is unlikely that they could reach its full development under thepopulist circumstance. In the Post-Chavez Era, these social organizations are stillfacing challenges and obstacles to overcome in its future development.