Associations and Activism: Mobilization of Urban Informal Workers in Costa Rica and Nicaragua

Abstract

Public Opinion and the Future of U.S.-Panama Relations Using survey data and interviews, this study examines Panamanian attitudes toward the United States and toward the central issues in U.S.Panama relations. It also compares Panamanian attitudes with opinions toward the United States in the rest of Central America. The study finds that nationalism, system support, anticommunism, and, for the mass public, ideology are the most important variables in determining support for the United States. Elites are more nationalistic and less accommodationist toward the United States than the mass public. Concern about the politicization and misuse of the Panama Canal and adjacent lands has led many in the general public to support a continued U.S. military presence on the Isthmus of Panama. Associations and Activism: Mobilization of Urban Informal Workers in Costa Rica and Nicaragua Studies of Latin American civil society tend to assume that popular organizations promote high-intensity forms of political participation while political parties mainly encourage voting. This study compares the influence of these two forces in the urban informal sector. Association involvement, low in both samples, is related to higher-intensity participation, but the differential influence of associations and parties holds only for Costa Rica; Nicaragua's revolutionary FSLN has fostered a more politically active citizenry. Economic Policy in Chile's New Democracy The Aylwin and Frei administrations have taken a cautious approach in formulating economic policies. This article analyzes how they have maintained economic stability, fueled sustained growth, and coped with inflows of foreign capital. While achieving successes in macroeconomic policy, export development, and poverty alleviation, Chile also faces challenges, including high social inequality and the increasing difficulty of dealing with the effects of financial globalization.