ABSTRACT
Daniel Ortega’s victory in the 2006 presidential elections and his inauguration in 2007 would bring a period of government and policy in some ways similar to and in others strikingly different from those of the conservative period. In contrast to the post-1990 period, there would be a dramatic return to governance in pursuit of “the logic of the majority.” Without the constraints of the Cold War and with funding from new friends, many social programs of the 1980s would be restored. Other new ones would be implemented. According to respected international opinion polls, economic performance and social policies caused Nicaraguans to give Daniel Ortega some of the highest approval ratings of any leader in the hemisphere. Nicaraguans also demonstrated high levels of support for democracy when compared to the rest of Latin America. Ironically, however—especially in light of these polls—Ortega would make shady deals with former opponents, pack the institutions of law, corrupt elections, and amass personal power more than any president during the Conservative restoration. Those machinations resulted in criticisms both at home and abroad, but did little to thwart Ortega or undermine his popularity.
