ABSTRACT
Costa Rica deviated from certain patterns in the rest of Central America during the colonial period and often remained an exception to social, economic, and political norms until the present. Rather isolated from the rest of Central America because of distance and rugged terrain, Costa Rica remained more racially and economically homogeneous than its neighbors. The roots of eventual Costa Rican democracy were planted in the nineteenth century, although true democratic rule would not materialize until the 1950s. The government's task proved difficult over the longer term. Costa Rica's post–civil war, social-democratic development model relied on state-led development projects and Central American Common Market (CACM)–coordinated import substitution industrialization that enlarged the government's payroll and economic role. Costa Rica's social welfare programs, ambitious for a developing country, grew during the 1950s and 1960s. During the 1970s Costa Rica avoided sharp increases in class inequality observed in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala.
