Abstract

GARCIA IZARRA, Luz  and  MIRANDA DELGADO, Rafael Gustavo. Development in Central America: Towards an Agenda of Social Policies. Comparative Analysis Between the Northern Triangle and Costa Rica. Inter.c.a.mbio [online]. 2020, vol.17, n.2, pp.79-104. ISSN 1659-4940.  http://dx.doi.org/10.15517/c.a..v17i2.41765.

In Central America, especially since the 2000s, a broad set of social policies have been implemented. Therefore, the aim of the article is to compare the social policies of Costa Rica and the Northern Triangle: Guatemala, Honduras y El Salvador. The working hypothesis raises, from the perspective of political economy, that political institutions are the fundamental variable conditioning development, particularly social policies. The article shows that the early democratization of Costa Rica has allowed it to have a considerable tradition of social policies, which is presented as a fundamental variable to understand its relative success in reducing poverty compared to the countries of the Northern Triangle.

Keywords : poverty; inequality; vulnerability; political institutions; Welfare State.

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