Committees for Aid and Freedom
The Committees for Aid and Freedom are an initiative of the Frente Amplio Venezuela Libre with the objective of organizing citizens at the bases of the opposition. The idea was born as part of the "Freedom Operation", directed by the president of the National Assembly of Venezuela Juan Guaidó. They are formed at the community level, by the citizens' own initiative, following instructions published on the website operacionlibertad.org. The committees are expected to meet regularly to discuss the situation in the country and possible solutions to the challenges facing the community, for example blackouts or shortages. Their activities also include the implementation of contingency protocols for situations such as repression or violence, and the monitoring and dissemination of the information provided by the National Assembly. Their two dimensions entail: activism in the sense of coordinating volunteers and mobilizations, and policymaking in the sense of preparing and executing self-government structures in each sector of society. At the end of 2019, several committees have been created under oath in different regions of the country. However, there is little evidence of their actions or impact.
Institutional design
Formalization: is the innovation embedded in the constitution or legislation, in an administrative act, or not formalized at all?
Frequency: how often does the innovation take place: only once, sporadically, or is it permanent or regular?
Mode of Selection of Participants: is the innovation open to all participants, access is restricted to some kind of condition, or both methods apply?
Type of participants: those who participate are individual citizens, civil society organizations, private stakeholders or a combination of those?
Decisiveness: does the innovation takes binding, non-binding or no decision at all?
Co-governance: is there involvement of the government in the process or not?
- Formalization
- only backed by a governmental program or policy
- Frequency
- sporadic
- Mode of selection of participants
- open
- Type of participants
- citizens civil society
- Decisiveness
- democratic innovation yields a non-binding decision
- Co-Governance
- no
Means
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Ends
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