The system of self-selecting oligarchy that has emerged in china since the death of mao has been a source of stability , but it offers no good way of resolving fundamental disagreements about policy directions .
On the one side are countries like venezuela , bolivia and ecuador , where voters have given much greater power to their populist presidents , partly by allowing them to extend their time in office and sometimes eroding the function of congress and the supreme court , institutions portrayed as allies of the old oligarchy .