Table Of ContentHandbook of Central
American Governance
CentralAmericahasexperiencedprofoundchangesduringthepastdecades.Withafewexceptions,
democracy has consolidated and elections have taken place regularly. At the same time, Central
America is now more urban, more service-orientated and more diversified in its export basket.
What has been the ultimate impact of the triple transition from war to peace, from dictatorship
to democracy and from state-led to market-led development? Is the region likely to sustain
improvements in living standards in the future? This Handbook aims to answer these questions,
highlighting the significance of the region for global debates on development, democracy and
governance.
Key features:
(cid:2) coversthecountriesofCentralAmerica:CostaRica,ElSalvador,Guatemala,Hondurasand
Nicaragua;
(cid:2) five sections explore major themes: development, distribution and redistribution; democrat-
ization and the state; key political and social actors; international relations; and individual
country experiences;
(cid:2) contemporarypolitical,social,governmentalandenvironmentalissuesarediscussedandlessons
for the future are drawn;
(cid:2) chapters written by expert researchers from the region itself, as well as from the USA and
Europe.
Diego Sánchez-AncocheaisUniversityLecturer inthe Political Economyof Latin America at
theUniversityofOxford,andGoverningBodyFellowatStAntony’sCollege,Oxford,United
Kingdom.
SalvadorMartí i PuigisAssociateProfessor of PoliticalScienceatthe UniversityofSalamanca,
Spain, and a member of the think-tank Fundació CIDOB-Barcelona.
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Handbook of Central
American Governance
Editors: Diego Sánchez-Ancochea
and Salvador Martí i Puig
Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK
Firsteditionpublished2014
byRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OX144RN,UnitedKingdom
andbyRoutledge
711ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10017,USA
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness
©2014DiegoSánchez-AncocheaandSalvadorMartíiPuigforselection
andeditorialmaterial;individualchapters,Routledge.
Therightoftheeditorstobeidentifiedastheauthorsoftheeditorialmaterial,andofthe
authorsfortheirindividualchapters,hasbeenassertedinaccordancewithsections77and78
oftheCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproduced
orutilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,
nowknownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,
orinanyinformationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissionin
writingfromthepublishers.
Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksor
registeredtrademarks,andareusedonlyforidentificationand
explanationwithoutintenttoinfringe.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
HandbookofCentralAmericangovernance/[editedby]DiegoSanchez-Ancochea,Salvador
MartíiPuig.
pagescm--(Routledgeinternationalhandbooks)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
1.CentralAmerica--Politicsandgovernment--Handbooks,manuals,etc.
I.Sánchez-Ancochea,Diego.II.MartíiPuig,Salvador.
JL1410.H462014
320.9728--dc23
2013022047
ISBN:978-1-85743-674-7(hbk)
ISBN:978-0-203-07314-8(ebk)
TypesetinBembo
byTaylor&FrancisBooks
EuropaCommissioningEditor:CathyHartley
EditorialAssistant:AmyWelmers
Contents
List of illustrations viii
Editors and contributors xii
Prologue: Central America: modernizing backwardness 1
Edelberto Torres-Rivas
1 Introduction: Central America’s triple transition and the persistent
power of the elite 4
Salvador Martí i Puig and Diego Sánchez-Ancochea
PARTI
Development and income (re)distribution 23
2 The great transformation in Central America: transnational
accumulation and the evolution of capital 25
Aaron Schneider
3 Central American migration, remittances and transnational
development 45
Ninna Nyberg Sørensen
4 Natural disasters, climate change and environmental challenges in
Central America 59
Alfredo Stein
5 The distribution of income in Central America 75
T. H. Gindling and Juan Diego Trejos
6 Social policy in Central America: stubborn legacies, positive
yet limited change 95
Juliana Martínez Franzoni
v
Contents
PARTII
Democratization and the state 117
7 Advancing the study of stateness in Central America: methodology
and some illustrative findings 119
Jorge Vargas Cullell
8 Authoritarian and democratic regimes in Central America 134
Fabrice Lehoucq
9 Institutional legitimacy in Central America: 2004–10 149
John A. Booth and Mitchell A. Seligson
10 Central American (High) Courts 163
Elena Martínez Barahona
11 The Central American military: building democratic control in
post-conflict societies 182
Orlando J. Pérez and Rafael Martínez
12 Drug-trafficking and governance in Central America 198
Otto Argueta
PARTIII
Key political and social actors 217
13 Political parties: the right 219
Barry Cannon
14 Political parties: the left 236
Salvador Martí i Puig
15 The transformation of Central American economic elites: from
local tycoons to transnational business groups 251
Benedicte Bull and Yuri Kasahara
16 Social movements in Central America 268
Rose J. Spalding
17 Indigenous and Afro-descendant social movements in
Central America 287
Miguel González, Vivian Jiménez Estrada and Víctor
Manuel del Cid
vi
Contents
PARTIV
International relations 307
18 Central America’s relations with the United States of America 309
Héctor Perla, Salvador Martí i Puig and Danny Burridge
19 Central America’s relations with Latin America 322
Francisco Rojas Aravena and Pedro Caldentey del Pozo
20 Regional integration in Central America 335
Fernando Rueda-Junquera
21 The role of international financial institutions in Central America 350
Sarah Hunt
PARTV
Country experiences 365
22 Costa Rica 367
Alberto Cortés Ramos, Gerardo Hernández Naranjo and Diego
Sánchez-Ancochea
23 El Salvador 385
Mo Hume
24 Guatemala 400
Pablo González
25 Honduras 420
Michelle M. Taylor-Robinson
26 Nicaragua 432
David Close
Index 447
vii
List of illustrations
Figures
2.1 Central American exports, millions of US dollars, 1980–2010 29
2.2 Central American textile exports to the USA, US dollars, 1990–2010 30
2.3 Net foreign direct investment, millions of US dollars, 1990–2010 40
5.1 Central America: evolution of inequality in the distribution of family income,
1990–2010 76
5.2 Central America: variation in labour income inequality indicators in the
1990s 81
5.3 Central America: variation in labour income inequality indicators in the
2000s 81
6.1 Per caput social spending, 2005 US dollars, 1990, 2000 and 2009 97
6.2 Social spending as a percentage of GDP, 1990, 2000 and 2009 98
6.3 Social spending as percentage of total public spending, 1990, 2000 and 2009 99
6.4 Distribution of social spending among sectors, 1990, 2000 and 2009 99
7.1 Central America and Chile: number of public institutions 126
8.1 Regime types, 1900–80 135
8.2 Regime types, 1990–2010 137
9.1 Overview of system support and specific institutional support, Central
America 2004–08 151
9.2 Institutional legitimacy trends in Guatemala 153
9.3 Institutional legitimacy trends in El Salvador 154
9.4 Institutional legitimacy trends in Honduras 156
9.5 Institutional legitimacy trends in Nicaragua 157
9.6 Institutional legitimacy trends in Costa Rica 158
9.7 Institutional legitimacy trends in Panama 159
10.1 Evolution of the case load in Costa Rica, 1989–2011 166
10.2 Distribution of cases in Costa Rica, 1989–2011 166
10.3 Evolution of the case load in Guatemala, 1986–2008 173
11.1 Central America: defence expenditure, 1988–2012 192
12.1 Homicide rates per 100,000 inhabitants in Central America,
2000–11 200
12.2 Cocaine seizures in Central America, metric tons, 2000–11 202
15.1 Corporate ownership organizational chart–Grupo Continental 258
15.2 Corporate ownership organizational chart–Empresa General de
Inversiones 259
viii
Listofillustrations
22.1 Costa Rica: current account and trade account balance, exports and imports,
millions of US dollars, 1990–2011 372
22.2 Costa Rica: employees by sector, percentage of the total, 1963–2010 373
22.3 Costa Rica: abstention rate in national elections, percentage
of all adults, 1986–2010 377
Map
7.1 State territorial penetration in Central America, Local Human
Development Index and road infrastructure 130
Tables
2.1 Ratio of traditional to non-traditional agricultural exports in the 10 leading
exports, 1970–2010 32
2.2 Tourism receipts as a percentage of GDP, 1980–2009 32
2.3 Percentage of women within the economically active population, 1990–2010 35
2.4 GDP, GDP per caput and GDP growth, US dollars, 1990–2010 36
2.5 Inequality and poverty in Central America, 1990–2010 37
2.6 Financial intermediation as a percentage of GDP, 1990–2010 38
2.7 Indicators of commercial integration: goods and services to and from Central
America, millions of US dollars, 1995–2010 39
3.1 Population and migration by Central American country, 2010 48
3.2 US deportation of Central American migrants by country, 2003–10 48
3.3 Remittances by Central American country, 1980–2010 52
4.1 Central America: urban population as a percentage of the total population,
1990–2010 61
4.2 Central America: urban poverty and extreme poverty levels as a percentage
of total urban population, millions of US dollars, 1990–2008 62
4.3 Costs of losses associated with severe and extreme
weather events in Central America, 1992–2009 63
4.4 Central America: atmospheric, hydrologic, seismic and volcanic associated
hazardous events, 1998–2010 65
4.5 Characteristics of climate change adaptation strategies in five Central
American countries 69
5.1 Central America: family income inequality, by country, around 1990,
1999 and 2009 77
5.2 Central America: family income inequality, by country, excluding
and including the impact on income of public social spending 78
5.3 Central America: labour income inequality, by country, around 1990,
1999 and 2009 80
5.4 Central America: Fields’ decomposition of labour income inequality,
by country, around 1990, 1999 and 2009 83
5.5 Central America: contribution of each variable to changes in the
variance of logarithm (Sj*VarLogY) from around 1990 to 1999 for
each country 84
ix
