This article argues that the fundamental crisis in Colombia is a crisis of political representation in which a closed political system confronts an increasingly diverse and mobilized civil society. While accelerated capitalist development has given rise to new social interests, the National Front regime, established in 1958, restricted political access to the traditional, elite-run Liberal and Conservative parties. In the past twenty years, the government's failure to address pressing political and social problems has precipitated a growing legitimacy crisis that has weakened the state and led to escalating violence. The author relates the political crisis to the rise of guerrilla groups, the emergence of paramilitary death squads, and the terrorist activities of the drug cartels. He analyzes the unsuccessful efforts of Colombian governments to resolve the political crisis, focusing particularly on the present administration of Virgilio Barco. Both the analysis presented here and the author's pessimistic conclusions typify the kinds of interpretations coming out of Colombian universities and research centres as the “violentólogos” do their best to make sense of an increasingly chaotic situation.