Coffee and Democracy in Costa Rica

This study of Costa Rica describes how society and politics developed around an expanding, export-oriented coffee oligarchy. The author provides the historical background for an analysis of the political events that led to the demise of this oligarchy's influence in national politics, and the resulting establishment of a successful liberal democracy. The author presents a critical analysis of the developmental model inaugurated in 1948 by the forces led by Jose Figueres Ferrer, a model that has provided Latin America's most enduring non-revolutionary challenge to the dominance of landed elites in these societies. The text is aimed at students in departments of sociology, Latin American studies, and developmental and Third World studies.