Publisher's Synopsis
In this theoretically rich and methodologically sophisticated investigation, Damarys Canache examines the significance of public opinion in Venezuela during the tumultuous 1990s and establishes a new framework for the study of political support in fragile democracies. Canache highlights the importance of mass attitudes regarding democracy as a form of government, showing that what people think about democracy is distirict from what they think about political institutions and incumbent leaders. Her analysis reveals that it was those Venezuelans who were uncommitted to democracy who expressed the strongest support for political violence in the 1990s and who provided an early base of mass support for Hugo Chavez.
