Development and Democracy of Venezuela - Research Paper Example

Development and Democracy of Venezuela Table of Contents An Overview of Venezuela 2 Conclusion 6 Introduction In the mid of 17th century, the Spanish colonial empire was divided into two broad regions that is New Spain which comprised the nations of modern Mexico and some portions of United States and Venezuela and the other one was Peru which comprised Panama and all Spanish properties in South America apart from the part of Venezuela. Due to certain financial transformations, the political arrangement of the empire was significantly customized with the foundation of the region of New Granada and Rio de la Plata (Mahoney, “Long Run Development and the Legacy of Colonialism in Spanish America”). In this connection it was found that with improved prospects particularly in the field of commercialization and trade, the merchants established strong ties with Venezuela and it eventually attained significant administrative power within the new region of New Granada. Thus, in this way Venezuela was separated from Spain and it continued to perform its operations within the region of New Granada (Mahoney, “Long Run Development and the Legacy of Colonialism in Spanish America”). An Overview of Venezuela According to the historical perspectives, the people of early Venezuelan territory constitute some of the earliest human livelihoods and comprise unique technical arrangements and developments. Moreover, the early ecological transformations particularly in Venezuela strongly modified the societies of Venezuela. The various changes that include rise in temperature, water level increased up to large land extensions and the inland as well as mountain chains diversified are few to be mentioned (Silverman, H & Isbell, W. H., “Handbook of South American Archaeology”). Venezuela’s colonial dependency was shaped by modernization through various factors that include social conditions linked with industrialization, enhancing working specialization, urbanization, growing educational levels and quick financial growth among others. The idea of modernization eventually brings the conception of bureaucracy which is also one of the significant factors due to which the colonial dependency of Venezuela was shaped. This implies that the economic progression of Venezuela raises the emergence of liberal and democratic political systems (Inglehart & Welzel, “Development and Democracy: What We Know about Modernization Today”). In context with the culture along with the relation towards the field of literature and art that prevailed in Venezuela, it has been observed that the writers of Venezuela used to hold an important position in their society even though Venezuelan literature has not attained as much international recognition compared to others. The artists as well as the writers of Venezuela founded various cultural organizations in order to pay attention especially towards the fields of art and literature among others. In this way, the field of literature and art greatly influences the culture in Venezuela (Ewell, J., “Venezuela, a Century of Change”). In relation to dance, there also lies a great importance of music in Venezuela. The form of dance was a fundamental part of ritual in Venezuela’s early civilizations. These early forms merged with colonial and immigrant influences ultimately created diverse and colorful folk dances. In relation to movies, Venezuela’s film industry is small but has started to flourish in recent years. The great majority of the films in Venezuela are based on either modern or historical dramatizations among others (Kohnstamm, T. & Kohn, B., “Venezuela”). The folk cultures of Venezuela involve towards the identification and value for intercultural relations under the theory of equality of cultures. As the globalization has increasingly affected Venezuela’s native cultural traditions, various initiatives were taken by the Ministry of Culture of Venezuela to cover all aspects that include music, dance, handicrafts, education and architecture among others (Houser, A., “Venezuela”). The socioeconomic background of Venezuela lies on the progression as well as advancement in the fields of mining, agriculture, manufacturing and tourism industries among others that eventually increase the environmental progression and financial growth of the country (Houser, A. “Venezuela”). The government of Venezuela greatly provides support especially towards the women of Venezuela. The government has established various legal and institutional reforms particularly for the women’s rights in Venezuela. These new measures or initiatives eventually placed Venezuela at a certain level in order to support equal gender opportunity. There lies a significant role of women particularly in the field of politics in Venezuela. It has been observed that the women in Venezuela hold various posts particularly in the political field along with various other dimensions (Houser, A., “Venezuela”). The total population of Venezuela according to estimation in the year 2010 was about 29.18 million and the annual population growth rate is 1.6% according to the year 2009 (Global Finance, “Leadership in Financial Organizations”). The job of National Guard of Venezuela is to protect the country from conducting various unlawful activities such as drugs and cocaine among others. In the year 2002, Venezuela and the US signed agreements that enabled the National Guard to make special investigations especially in the area of drug associated operations that prevails in Venezuela (Houser, A., “Venezuela”). The main source of income of Venezuela lies in the petroleum sector. Apart from this, the other income sources of Venezuela also include telecommunication, media, shipping and fishing industry among others (Dinneen, M., “Culture and Customs of Venezuela”). It has been identified that the schools in Venezuela were in bad shape in early years but recently it is improving day-by-day. The children of Venezuela get their education mainly from private schools along with having a facility of nonpayment of tuition fees. In this connection, the government of Venezuela introduced massive efforts to improve children’s education (Donovan, S. & Jones, C. G., “Teens in Venezuela”). The main language of Venezuela is Spanish and the key religion of Venezuela is Catholicism i.e. 95% of the Venezuelans is catholic (Maddicks, R., “Venezuela, 5th: The Bradt Travel Guide”). In relation to linguistic and culture diversity, there had been a crucial effect of imperialism as well as colonialism upon Venezuela. The colonialism along with the imperialism were mainly focused upon a specialized law which was utilized as a coercive force and supported by the power of the colonial state in order to support capitalist development and to reorganize the social relations among others. This particular law acted as a central mechanism to define a strong link between the state and the society. This was the effect of Venezuela’s imperialism and colonialism factor over its linguistic and cultural diversity among others (Maddicks, R., “Venezuela, 5th: The Bradt Travel Guide”). The language of Spanish is imposed from colonizing power (Moseley, C., “Encyclopedia of the world’s endangered languages”). It has been identified that there lies a strong link between Venezuela with national and global communities among others. The country holds a strong relation especially with United States, Columbia, Russia and China among others. Venezuela’s relation with various global communities acts in order to maintain a smooth association which is based upon their mutual benefits (U.S. Department of State, “Background Note: Venezuela”). However, the government of Venezuela dominates their economy to a certain extent. According to the survey as well as the statistics of the government of Venezuela, it has been recognized that there was an actual gross domestic product (GDP) contraction in the year 2009, indicating a decrease in government expenditures and personal utilization among others. Moreover, the oil industry of Venezuela had a noteworthy effect upon the economy of the country (U.S. Department of State, “Background Note: Venezuela”). The products of Venezuela consist of iron and steel, paper, aluminum, transport equipment and agricultural products among others. Among the resources, hydroelectric power, coal, gold, diamonds, petroleum and bauxite among others are usually available in Venezuela (U.S. Department of State, “Background Note: Venezuela”). In order to control the colonizing power of Venezuela, the country should lay much emphasis upon its petroleum industry because it has been recognized that this particular industry faced difficulty regarding its oil price and in order to resolve this difficulty to a certain extent, the country needs efficient and effective labors and should heavily rely upon the foreign labor in their construction and oil industries among others (Maddicks, R. “Venezuela, 5th: The Bradt Travel Guide”). Conclusion The research study of Venezuela includes the conception of imperialism and colonialism control as well as dependency, development of various cultures such as art, literature, music and movies, socioeconomic background, role of women, population, income source, economy, education, religion and language, product and resources and labor needs among others. The study eventually reveals the overall structure and shape of Venezuela and its dominance particularly in the oil industry which ultimately reflects into the economy of the nation. Through this detailed study and research upon Venezuela, an individual can attain a brief idea and knowledge upon this country to a certain extent. Works Cited Dinneen, Mark. Culture and Customs of Venezuela. US: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001. Donovan, Sandra, and Jones Caryn Gracey. Teens in Venezuela. US: Compass Point Books, 2007. Ewell, Judith. Venezuela, a Century of Change. US: Stanford University Press, 1984. Global Finance. Leadership in Financial Organizations. Country & Population Overview, 2012. Web. 19 Jan. 2012. . Houser, Aimee. Venezuela. US: ABDO, 2011. Inglehart. Ronald, and Welzel. Christian. Development and Democracy: What We Know about Modernization Today. Foreign Affairs, 2009. Web. 19 Jan. 2012. . Kohnstamm, Thomas, and Kohn Beth. Venezuela. Australia: Lonely Planet, 2007. Maddicks, Russell. Venezuela, 5th: The Bradt Travel Guide. UK: Bradt Travel Guides, 2011. Mahoney, James. Long Run Development and the Legacy of Colonialism in Spanish America. The Spanish Colonial Empire, Circa 1650, 2003. Web. 19 Jan. 2012. . Moseley, Christopher. Encyclopedia of the World’s Endangered Languages. London: Routledge, 2007. Silverman, Helaine, and Isbell William H. Handbook of South American Archaeology. Germany: Springer, 2008. U.S. Department of State. Background Note: Venezuela. Economy, 2011. Web. 19 Jan. 2012. . Read More