Table 11.1

Party Fragmentation, Party Volatility, and the Role of Congress
in Venezuela before and after Decentralization

  Pre-decentralization Post-decentralization
Effective number of parties in congress
2.65a
4.6b
Party volatility in congress (percent)c
18.9d
38.1e
Volatility in the presidential vote (percent)f
13.9
52.0
Share of ordinary laws initiated by the legislature (percent)
34.0
64.0


a Average between 1973 and 1988. See Data Appendix for an explanation of the method for computing the effective number of parties.
b Average between 1989 and 2003.
c See Data Appendix.
d Average between 1958 and 1988.
e Average between 1989 and 2000.
f See Data Appendix.
Source: Monaldi and others (2005).