Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Venezuela, From Charisma To Mimicry: The Rise And Fall Of A Televised Political Drama, Rebecca Blackwell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this paper, I build on the assumption that collective emotional experience plays an important role in sustaining the group identity central to nation-making processes inspired by charismatic leaders. This analysis is based on a case study of the Venezuelan government after the death of Hugo Chávez. I examine ways in which elements of the leader’s narrative are used by his successors after his death. I also argue that the current political actors of the bureaucratized Revolutionary Government of Venezuela are attempting to sustain popular support by reaffirming a national identity that resonated among the masses largely due to the …