Decentralization and Municipal Competence from 1999 to 2011

Abstract

The objective of this research is to show evolution of the decentralization process and the competence of municipalities during the 1999-2011 period. From 1999 on, the intentions of continuing the decentralization process emerging from the 1961 Constitution and reaffirmed in the 1999 Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela are analyzed. However, the prevailing political position, based on XXIst century socialism, generates motivation to create and modify a body of laws, including those relating to community councils, which, far from consolidating municipal decentralization, slow this process, creating confusion and uncertainty. The research was approached in a documentary-bibliographic context and concludes with some reflections on the impact it has had on the community and the municipality, the centralization of power and offering community service.