This thesis exammes the notion of 'generation' as an approach to the political history of Venezuela. It falls into four parts. First, an extensive review of the use of the concept in the works of, particularly, Hume, Elster, Marias, Mannheim and Wohl, to highlight the problems and identify the possible advantages of generational analysis. Second, the application of a generational analysis to Venezuela's political history, which has a markedly cyclical/generational appearance and where the term has been frequently, though often loosely, employed.