Learning Democracy: Citizen Engagement and Electoral Choice in Nicaragua, 1990-2001Historically, Nicaragua has been mired in poverty and political conflict, yet the country has become a model for the successful emergence of democracy in a developing nation. Learning Democracy tells the story of how Nicaragua overcame an authoritarian government and American interventionism by engaging in an electoral revolution that solidified its democratic self-governance. By analyzing nationwide surveys conducted during the 1990, 1996, and 2001 Nicaraguan presidential elections, Leslie E. Anderson and Lawrence C. Dodd provide insight into one of the most unexpected and intriguing recent advancements in third world politics. They offer a balanced account of the voting patterns and forward-thinking decisions that led Nicaraguans to first support the reformist Sandinista revolutionaries only to replace them with a conservative democratic regime a few years later. Addressing issues largely unexamined in Latin American studies, Learning Democracy is a unique and probing look at how the country's mass electorate moved beyond revolutionary struggle to establish a more stable democratic government by realizing the vital role of citizens in democratization processes. |
Contents
| 1 | |
The Case of Nicaragua | 37 |
Space Class and Party | 39 |
Political Discourse and the 1990 Campaign | 77 |
Public Opinion in 1990 | 109 |
Chapter 4 An Empirical Theory of Electoral Choice | 111 |
Candidates the Economy and the Regime | 139 |
Modeling the 1990 Presidential Election | 173 |
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Learning Democracy: Citizen Engagement and Electoral Choice in Nicaragua ... Leslie E. Anderson,Lawrence C. Dodd No preview available - 2005 |
Common terms and phrases
affluent Alemán American analysis Arnoldo Alemán attitudes authoritarian Bolaños candidate competence capacity Chamorro CINASE citizen choice civic engagement civil liberties class polarization conservative contestation Contras Costa Rica crisis Daniel Ortega democratic conservatism domestic DOXA DOXA nationwide early economic El Nuevo Diario election electoral emerged Enrique Bolaños established democracies experience February FSLN gender group polarization image assessments incumbent interviewees issues La Prensa Latin less educated Liberal Managua masses ment Moreover move neoliberal nonresponse November Nuevo Diario old elite opposition Ortega outcome participation particularly parties partisan patterns percent percentage perspective political space polls poor popular positive postelection preferred Prensa presidency questions reflective reforms regime direction response retrospective and prospective revolution revolutionary Sandinismo Sandinista Sandinista regime social socialist Somocista Somoza Supreme Electoral Council survey tilt tion United University Press variables victory Violeta Chamorro vote choice vote decisions vote intent voters