Costa Rica's Democratic Decline Through Authoritarian Populism
Source: Andrés León Araya. "Mano Dura Comes to Costa Rica." February 15, 2026. jacobin.com
The Gist
Costa Rica just elected a president who promises to continue dismantling the country's democratic institutions and welfare state. She's using people's fears about rising crime to justify attacking courts, congress, and other checks on presidential power, following the playbook of her predecessor who blamed all problems on 'corrupt institutions' rather than actually solving them.
Conclusion
Costa Rica is experiencing a dangerous democratic decline as voters have embraced an authoritarian populist project ('rodriguismo') that uses security concerns to justify dismantling democratic institutions and the welfare state
Premises
- Laura Fernández's electoral victory represents continuity of Chaves's authoritarian populist project, not just a normal political transition
- Chaves successfully reframed institutional checks and balances as 'barriers' and 'capture' rather than democratic safeguards
- Rising violent crime was weaponized politically to justify attacks on democratic institutions rather than being addressed through policy solutions
- The administration systematically attacked Costa Rica's welfare state while using populist rhetoric to mask conventional right-wing economic policies
- Fernández's declaration of ending the 'Second Republic' explicitly challenges the legitimacy of Costa Rica's post-1948 democratic institutional framework
- The PPSO's legislative majority provides the power to pursue constitutional reforms that could further erode democratic constraints
Assumptions
- Democratic institutions and checks and balances are inherently valuable and should be preserved
- Costa Rica's post-1948 'Second Republic' institutional framework, despite flaws, provided beneficial stability and social democracy
- Rising crime should be addressed through policy solutions rather than used to justify institutional attacks
- Populist rhetoric that masks conventional right-wing policies represents a form of political deception
- The pattern of authoritarian populism in Latin America represents a genuine threat to democracy