Venezuela
Autocratic
→Stable2026 development data - not published research
The score supports the assessment. It does not compute the status on its own.
Judicial independence is effectively absent in politically significant cases.
Independent media and expression face severe restriction.
Elections do not provide a genuinely level or representative route to power.
Opposition and civil society face prosecution and coercion.
State institutions do not provide meaningful checks on ruling-party authority.
Confidence: high. Confidence reflects evidence quality and assessment certainty, not democratic quality.
Direction analysis
The country remains near the institutional floor. The 2026 classification is stable at an autocratic baseline rather than implying political calm or legitimacy.
What changed
Freedom House rates Venezuela 13/100 and describes virtually all channels for political dissent as closed, with flawed elections and state control over institutions.
RETHINKK assessment
RETHINKK classifies Venezuela as autocratic and stable at a severely degraded institutional baseline.
Evidence
- Freedom HouseFreedom in the World 2026 - Venezuela2026-03-19 / 2026-08-30Source ->Supports: judicialIndependence, mediaFreedom, electoralIntegrity, civicSpace, checksAndBalances
- V-Dem InstituteDemocracy Report 2026: Unraveling The Democratic Era?2026-03-17 / 2026-08-30Source ->Supports: judicialIndependence, mediaFreedom, electoralIntegrity, civicSpace, checksAndBalances