When thinking about the future of Venezuela, parts of the Trump Administration seem to be embracing the theory that democratization is mostly a staffing problem. Replace the “bad team”—President Nicolás Maduro and his inner circle—with a new team committed to democratic norms, and democracy will follow.

Since his first term in office, President Donald Trump has considered Maduro an illegitimate leader and has since designated him as a member of a terrorist organization. The Trump Administration has placed a $50 million bounty on Maduro and reportedly given him an ultimatum to step down.

But the trouble with the Trump Administration’s staffing theory of democracy is that it ignores the institutional foundations required for democratization. Democracies are built by people, y

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