Arturo J.Cruz, Jr argues that political learning, trust-building, and institutional innovation by political elites broke Nicaragua's post-colonial cycle of anarchy and petty despotism, leaving in its place an increasingly inclusive oligarchic democracy that made possible state-led economic development for the next thirty years. Subsequent economic development gave rise to new social groups and localist power centres that remained politically disparate, and in turn forged an outsiders' coalition to bring down the Republic.

Autorentext
ARTURO CRUZ JR. is a member of the faculty of the Central American Institute of Business Administration (INCAE). His research focuses on the analysis of Latin American social and political trends, and he teaches methods of such analysis for the Masters and Executive Education programmes.

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List of Tables Acknowledgements Note on Sources and Methods Overview The Presidency of Fruto Chamorro and the National War: Antecedents of the Conservative Republic The Constitution of 1858: A Troubled Birth The Works of the Conservatives The Reds and the Inglesieros The Fall of the Conservative Republic: An Accidental Death Conclusions End Notes Index