Leftist parties, neoliberal policies, and reelection strategies - The case of the PLN in Costa Rica

    Authors

    B. M. Wilson

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Comp. Polit. Stud.

    Keywords

    JAMAICA; Political Science

    Abstract

    How do leftist parties in government abandon their traditional economic development programs, adopt neoliberal policies, and still win reelection? This article examines the case of the leftist National Liberation Party (PLN) in Costa Rica to explain this unexpected outcome. The author argues that the explanation lies on two separate but related level, those of institutional rules and policy implementation strategies. Institutional rules constrain the behavior of political actors in multiple ways and structure political interaction. However, governments also employ specific policy implementation strategies (e.g., obfuscation, compensation, division, and incrementalism) to adopt unpopular policies while reducing electoral costs. As a result, opposition to the reforms is more difficult to organize and potential negative consequences are difficult to identify for voters. The institutional rules and the strategies that governments employ can account for the seeming paradox of a leftist party repeatedly abandoning its electoral promises, adopting neoliberal policies, and still winning reelection.

    Journal Title

    Comparative Political Studies

    Volume

    32

    Issue/Number

    6

    Publication Date

    1-1-1999

    Document Type

    Article; Proceedings Paper

    Language

    English

    First Page

    752

    Last Page

    779

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000082286000004

    ISSN

    0010-4140

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