摘要：Since 1948, Costa Rica had enjoyed an exceptional democratic stability as a result of a pact between the main political parties and the creation of a solid Wellfare State. Since 1980, however, neoliberal structural reforms redefined the model and, while some of the advances of the previous epoch were maintained, privatizations and the economic opening increased poverty levels and social polarization. Within this context, the elections celebrated on February 5, 2006, and won by Oscar Arias, mark the beginning of an inevitable transition which, to be successful, requires that the parties respond to the mandate of the voters and maintain the national tradition of dialogue and pacts.
