Publication

This paper analyzes the importance of oil in the transformation of Venezuela’s political system especially with regard to petro-states, the development model, and the domestic and international effects. The central argument of this article is that the Chávez government has accentuated the practice of 'rentierism,' whereby a government uses a single resource or source of revenue as the pillar of the economy and its main tool to manage the country, rather than develop and diversify the economy with an eye to long-term growth and stability.