Demokratisk konsolidering: Varför har Costa Rica lyckats bättre än Nicaragua och El Salvador?

Sammanfattning: Many of the Latin American and Central American countries have had diffuculties with the democratic process. One country that particularly stands out in the Central American region is Costa Rica, a nation that achieved democratic consolidation in the 1950’s. In order to analyze why Costa Rica has been characterized by this success, the researcher Larry Diamond’s theory is used almost as an analysis model. The theory consists of three critieria a country must achieve to be able to consolidate, namely political institutionalization, regime performance and democratic deepening. The thesis is written from a comparative perspective and uses a most similar systems design where Nicaragua and El Salvador make up for the two other cases. The reason for this is because it, according to me, will be more explicit to see why Costa Rica has succeeded and the others have failed. As a result the Diamond theory largely explains the prosperity of Costa Rica, but the study also shows that the national identity and political history are important factors in defining the outcomes of the countries.