Reconciling the State and Diffused Autonomy? Political Brokers in Venezuelan Poder popular

The most widespread implementation of the autonomous sovereignty of the popular sectors in the socialist policies of Chávez’s Venezuela, known as poder popular (popular power), is the consejo comunal (communal council), a neighborhood assembly that has received sizable state funding to implement self-managed projects ranging from house renovation to local public works and from social events to small-scale productive activities. Examination of the establishment and operation of these councils in Cumaná (Estado Sucre)—their successes and failures, popular involvement and personal corruption—reveals the ambiguous role within them of political brokers employed by local administrations and heading the party’s smallest organizational units and shows how incorporation of forms of direct democracy into larger institutions (the government and the party) hinders the exercise of autonomy.