The Constitutional Concept of Democracy and the Judicialization of Politics in Venezuela

This documentary research analyzes how the Constitutional Chamber of the Venezuelan Supreme Court, when interpreting the content and scope of the concept of democracy in the exercise of jurisdictional function, is an institution that influences politics, specifically, when it resolves disputes concerning electoral processes. This research studies certain judgments of the Constitutional Chamber, selected for their legal and political significance, which comes from the circumstances in which they were issued and because they have been a landmark case or have repeated or modified a previous criterion. The existing relationships are determined between the decisions of the Constitutional Chamber, in which it develops its concept of democracy as a principle in certain contexts, and the political effects of these judgments on elections. Conclusions are that the political role of the Constitutional Chamber is so important that it can affect even institutional factors of voting.