Costa Rica And Its Government

Costa Rica is a democratic country with a political constitution made in 1949. It chooses the president, 57 deputies and government high ranks change every 4 years.

There are 3 State Powers that are the Executive Power (President, Vice President and government cabinet elected by the president), the Legislative Power (57 deputies and their corresponding advisers) and the Judicial Power (Supreme Court of Justice, 22 magistrates elected every 8 years by the Legislative Assembly).

The Legislative Assembly is chosen by votes on the political parties and each one makes a list of priority to place the deputies.

Costa Rica is a 51.100 square meters country between Nicaragua and Panama and the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. It has 7 provinces and has 5048 million of habitants. Its main language is Spanish but it is very common that people speak a second idiom, mostly English. Independence from Spain came on September 15th, 1821 and, after a civil war (the only one), army abolition was signed on December 01st 1948.

Even if there are a lot of political parties, Costa Rica has been governed almost the same for decades and the style the country is managed is not only obsolete but also inefficient in some ways. 

With 57 deputies, representation of individual interest is almost certain and every party is focused on a selected list of goals to achieve in 4 years. But one of the biggest issues is that it doesn’t have enough right wing politicians as of now and that translates in a lot of taxes and bureaucracy because everything has to go through the government’s approval. However, new parties are presenting fresh proposals and the population is excited to see how the dynamics are going to be swifted.

On a more positive note, Costa Rica has advanced a lot regarding infrastructure, Human Rights, affordable housing and vehicles, international agreements, foreing inversions, exporting goods and services like coffee, fruits and even customer service. 

By not having an army or any kind of militar, the country is able to invest in education, investigation and health. There are a lot of ministries in charge of specific things like art and culture and many more and are very solid institutions dedicated to help citizens and foreigners. 

Each province has several Municipalities in charge of public services, local taxes, garbage collection, local entertainment, parks maintenance, roads in good condition and anything related. 

During the pandemic, Costa Rica’s economy was destroyed but the government managed to keep as low as possible the amount of infected population.

Last government elections was winned by a person that has not been involved in politics and was the first time that the government personnel was interviewed instead of handpicked. Rodrigo Chaves (new president) is unconventional but he comes with a well prepared team of professionals and has been transparent through his decisions. He was indeed the popular choice, defeating a political character that has been around since de 90s. 

Ticos feel optimistic about politics in Costa Rica and the whole country is trusting this gabinet to do great things.