So Near Yet So Far: Nicaragua and Costa Rica's Divergent Fate in Pursuing Democracy

Abstract

This paper compared the democratic development of Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Although two neighboring Latin American countries with similar culture, language, and historical root, their trajectories of political development are divergent. While Costa Ricas democracy has consolidated, Nicaragua is still struggling in authoritarian rule with dismal socioeconomic development. The paper found that the two seemingly similar countries different fates result from various factors from the role of military, and political systems to the disparity of socioeconomic development. Costa Ricans stable democratic environment then enabled the entrenchment of a pro-democratic political culture that is absent in Nicaragua. The multi-perspective analysis of the two similar countries could have further implications on the comparative studies of countries that share similar social, cultural, and political origins but with different outcomes of democratic development.