Venezuela

Bolivarian Circles

City/State/Region
Begin – End: 2002 – 2004
Name of organization in charge: Presidencia de la República
Type of organization in charge: government civil society
Level: local

Impact

?

Implementation: was the innovation effectively, partially or not put into practice at all?

Fulfillment of Aims: were the goals of the innovation completely, partially or not achieved at all?

Output: has the innovation generated recommendations, initiatives, decisions or policies?

Outcome: if there were a policy output, was it enacted or implemented?

Implementation: yes
Fulfillment of Democratic Innovation’s aim: yes
Output: -
Policy Outcome: -

The Bolivarian Circles are a basic support movement for the Bolivarian revolution of President Hugo Chávez. They enabled participation in the implementation of education and health programs at the neighborhood level. Participants or members of the circles worked mostly on a voluntary basis and carried out social activities, such as school support for students with problems or in clinics and health campaigns. At the same time, they also served as vehicles of popular mobilization to support the Hugo Chávez government. Their ability to mobilize the population was evident during the failed coup attempt in 2002 and during the 2004 presidential recall campaign. Its members worked as campaign activists. Each circle has 11 members. According to official data, at its highest, some 200 000 circles were constituted, involving about 2.2 million members. Each member swears an oath to the Constitution, proclaims to defend the ideals of Simón Bolívar, and serve the community. However, as of 2004, their activities began to decline.

Institutional design

?

Formalization: is the innovation embedded in the constitution or legislation, in an administrative act, or not formalized at all?

Frequency: how often does the innovation take place: only once, sporadically, or is it permanent or regular?

Mode of Selection of Participants: is the innovation open to all participants, access is restricted to some kind of condition, or both methods apply?

Type of participants: those who participate are individual citizens, civil society organizations, private stakeholders or a combination of those?

Decisiveness: does the innovation takes binding, non-binding or no decision at all?

Co-governance: is there involvement of the government in the process or not?

Formalization: not backed by constitution nor legislation, nor by any governmental policy or program
Frequency: sporadic
Mode of selection of participants: open
Type of participants: citizens
Decisiveness: democratic innovation yields a non-binding decision
Co-Governance: no

Means

Deliberation
Direct Voting
E-Participation
Citizen Representation

Ends

Accountability
Responsiveness
Rule of Law
Political Inclusion
Social Equality

Policy cycle

Agenda setting

Formulation and decision-making

Implementation

Policy Evaluation

Sources

http://www.circulosbolivarianos.org.ve/