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2009 Reprint,updated,printed ""on demand""- Costa Rica Business and Investment Opportunities Yearbook ... Read more

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2009 Reprint,updated,printed ""on demand""- Costa Rica Trade Policy Handbook ... Read more

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USCosta Rica Economic and Political Cooperation Handbook ... Read more

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Since 1945, it is estimated, more people have perished as aresult of gross human rights violations than as a result of war, yetwe have little knowledge of why governments commit gross human rightsviolations. The present study, seeking to obtain an understanding ofthe causes underlying gross human rights violations, compares thehuman rights situation in a country where gross human rightsviolations are the rule (Guatemala) with the situation in a countrywhere this type of violations does not occur (Costa Rica). The focus of the study is on the short-term sources within thepolitical system which are perceived by those in power as a threat totheir power and which trigger gross human rights violations.Furthermore, the long-term sources or background factors which set thestage and allow gross human rights violations to be perpetrated areanalysed. The study concludes by highlighting the causes of grosshuman rights violations and briefly addresses how these violations arepresently dealt with in Guatemala. ... Read more

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Attempts to construct resilient democracies have been as pervasive as reversals have been cruel in Latin America. Based on a wealth of original historical documents and contemporary interviews, this volume analyzes five centuries of political history through paradigmatic examples of outstanding democratic success and abysmal failure. It demonstrates that while factors highlighted by standard explanations matter, it is political culture that configures economic development, institutional choices and political pacts in ways that directly affect democracy's chances and quality. ... Read more

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This book examines the origins of democracy and authoritarianism using a novel coalitional approach to examine two questions: What are the conditions under which actors found democracy? What are the conditions conducive to its endurance? The book explores these questions by analyzing the cases of Costa Rica and Guatemala. Costa Rica is the longest-standing and arguably the most stable democracy in Latin America, while Guatemala has among the longest and most brutal records of authoritarian rule in Latin America The author s fresh reinterpretation of these two cases demonstrates that prior to the 1950 s, the two countries followed broadly similar patterns of political change and development, including seven decades of Liberal authoritarian rule beginning in the 1870 s, just under a decade of democratic reforms in the 1940 s, and brief but consequential counterreform movements that overthrew the democratic regimes at mid-twentieth century. Why did Costa Rica emerge with an enduring political democracy and Guatemala with authoritarian rule following these broadly similar historical trajectories?Demanding Democracy argues that the democratizing coalition s success in Costa Rica and its failure in Guatemala rested upon its capacity to redistribute elite property early on and to exercise effective political control of the countryside. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

New insights on democratization in Central America
The author makes a valuable addition to the dialogue on democracy by not only incorporating older approaches but also moving beyond them.Based on both archival sources and original interview data, this revised dissertation provides cogent arguments, lucid writing, and credible references.The book weaves together two perspectives on democratization often viewed as mutually exclusive:structural and agency approaches.It integrates these two by introducing a third approach:political coalition-building.The author's postulates are tested by examining the histories of Costa Rica and Guatemala.The histories of these two countries actually provide three case studies:one example in each country where democratization failed, and one example in Costa Rica where it succeeded.By introducing a new emphasis on the importance to democratization of the mobilization of the countryside, the author sheds new light on known historical events.She also emphasizes that not only the timing but also the sequencing of events is important in attempts at democratization.Finally, other conditions necessary to the emergence and permanence of democracy are identified for use in future studies.This book should enliven the debate on democratizatio ... Read more

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2009 Reprint,updated,printed ""on demand""- Costa Rica Privatization Programs and Regulations Handbook ... Read more

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Using data from local surveys, interviews, and national statistics, this comparative study of two Central American cities similarly positioned in the world economy looks at how people make a living outside the mainstream of economic life, in the "informal economy," what opportunities they have for social mobility, and how state policies affect their life chances. ... Read more

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The national governments of Central America were constructed between 1840 and 1900, a time when coffee was transformed from a botanical curiosity to the region's most important export. In spite of their geographic proximity, the national governments that emerged were strikingly different, from Costa Rica's participatory democracy to Guatemala's military despotism.

Robert Williams explores Central America's political diversity by following the story of coffee through the nation-building period. With a sensitivity to cultures and institutions before the advent of widespread coffee cultivation, he reveals the various ways that land, labor, and capital were harnessed as coffee advanced from one locale to the next, provoking cultural clashes and sometimes violent reactions as it altered landscapes, people's lives, and even governments.Through careful scrutiny of a tiny region and a single crop in a restless age, States and Social Evolution develops a theory of state formation relevant to other places and times as well. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

2nd Prize- Bryce Wood Award- LASA 1995
John Sheahan, chairperson of the Bryce Wood Award Committee said, "Robert Williams' book is an extraordinarily good example of systematic economic and historical analysis used to answer an intriguing question. The question is how to explain the striking differences among Central American countries in the dimensions of democracy, political repression, and social concern. Williams goes deeply into their different responses to the rise of the world coffee market in the late nineteenth century, and explains clearly the view that these experiences have marked the political and social evolutions of the countries ever since."

A Must If You Want To Know The Role Of Coffee in Cen. Amer.
I have read dozens of books on the history of coffee and how it has shaped the lives of hundreds of millions of people, but in some respects this is the very best. Note: it is can be scholarly in the depth of itsinvestigation, but for me that was all for the best. And it never readslike an "academic" piece, but rather is compelling, at least ifyou're already concerned about this topic.

This is one of the firstbooks that I recommend to people who want to know why so many people whosupply the world with coffee are so poor, and denied serious options tochange their conditions.The reader should note that this book does nottry to describe all coffee producting countries, rather just three, each ofwhich has been profoundly shaped by coffee, but in ways distinct from oneanother.That demonstrates that there is nothing pre-ordained aboutsocieties that are economically dependent upon coffee production. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from NotiCen: Central American & Caribbean Affairs, published by Latin American Data Base/Latin American Institute on June 8, 2000. The length of the article is 950 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: COSTA RICA: LEGISLATIVE REPORT BLAMES FORMER PRESIDENT JOSE MARIA FIGUERES IN SOCIAL-FUND SCANDAL.(Government Activity)(International Pages)(Brief Article)
Publication: NotiCen: Central American & Caribbean Affairs (Newsletter)
Date: June 8, 2000
Publisher: Latin American Data Base/Latin American Institute
Page: NA

Article Type: Brief Article

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This digital document is an article from Global Governance, published by Thomson Gale on October 1, 2005. The length of the article is 8962 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Global good Samaritans? Human rights foreign policy in Costa Rica.
Author: Alison Brysk
Publication: Global Governance (Magazine/Journal)
Date: October 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 11Issue: 4Page: 445(22)

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The 1949 Constitution of Costa Rica established two Vice-Presidencies of Costa Rica, which are directly elected through a popular vote on a ticket with the President for a period of four years, with no immediate re-election. There has been various incarnations of the office. Vice Presidents replace the President in cases of temporary or permanent absence. Throughout the history of independent Costa Rica, there have been different systems to cover the temporary or permanent absence of a President. ... Read more

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D&B Export Guide

D&B Export Guides are your guide to global market and export information on more than 185 countries. For many years these guides have been the ticket to successful foreign trade. Armed with this information, you can enter global markets and minimize payment delays by understanding country requirements in advance. With D&B Export Guides you get the details you need to work successfully in each market:

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