COPEI
Encyclopedia
Copei – Social Christian Party of Venezuela (Copei, Partido Social Cristiano de Venezuela) is a third way
Third way (centrism)
The Third Way refers to various political positions which try to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of right-wing economic and left-wing social policies. Third Way approaches are commonly viewed from within the first- and second-way perspectives as...
political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
. The name stands for Comité de Organización Política Electoral Independiente ("Political Electoral Independent Organization Committee"). It was founded on January 13, 1946, by Rafael Caldera
Rafael Caldera
Rafael Antonio Caldera Rodríguez was president of Venezuela from 1969 to 1974 and again from 1994 to 1999.Caldera taught sociology and law at various universities before entering politics. He was a founding member of COPEI, Venezuela's Christian Democratic party...
(who later served as president under the party's banner). Copei, along with Democratic Action, was the dominant Venezuelan party from 1958 to 1998. The only other Copei member to preside over Venezuela was Luis Herrera Campins
Luis Herrera Campins
Luis Antonio Herrera Campins was President of Venezuela from 1979 to 1984. He was elected to one five-year term in 1978. He was a member of the COPEI party.- Early Life and career:...
, between 1979 and 1983. The party's leaders were Lorenzo Fernández, Eduardo Fernández and Oswaldo Álvarez Paz
Oswaldo Álvarez Paz
Oswaldo Álvarez Paz is a Venezuelan politician.He was born in Maracaibo, Zulia and graduated in Law from the University of Zulia...
.
In the 2000 legislative elections
Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2000
A parliamentary election was held in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on 30 July 2000, having been postponed from the original date of 28 May for technical reasons. This was the first election held under Venezuela's newly adopted 1999 constitution...
the party won 5 of 165 seats in the National Assembly
National Assembly of Venezuela
The National Assembly is the legislative branch of the Venezuelan government. It is a unicameral body made up of a variable number of members, who are elected by "universal, direct, personal, and secret" vote partly by direct election in state-based voting districts, and partly on a state-based...
; 4 additional seats were won by an alliance with Democratic Action. In the 2005 legislative elections
Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2005
The 2005 Venezuela parliamentary election took place on 4 December 2005. The election sent 167 deputies to the National Assembly of Venezuela, 12 deputies to the Latin American Parliament and 5 deputies to the Andean Parliament...
Copei staged an electoral boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
and so did not win any seats in the National Assembly.
Venezuelan Presidents by COPEI
| President | Dates in office | Form of entry | Occupation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| |Rafael Caldera Rodríguez Rafael Caldera Rafael Antonio Caldera Rodríguez was president of Venezuela from 1969 to 1974 and again from 1994 to 1999.Caldera taught sociology and law at various universities before entering politics. He was a founding member of COPEI, Venezuela's Christian Democratic party... |
1969–1974 1994–1999 |
Direct elections | Lawyer | |
| |Luis Herrera Campins Luis Herrera Campins Luis Antonio Herrera Campins was President of Venezuela from 1979 to 1984. He was elected to one five-year term in 1978. He was a member of the COPEI party.- Early Life and career:... |
1979–1984 | Direct elections | Lawyer |
Further reading
- Brian F. Crisp, Daniel H. Levine and Jose E. Molina (2003), "The Rise and Decline of COPEI in Venezuela", in Scott Mainwaring and Timothy Scully (eds, 2003), Christian democracy in Latin America: electoral competition and regime conflicts, Stanford University Press