Democracy And Socialism In Sandinista Nicaragua

The authors convincingly argue that the democratic tradition and practice that was emerging in Socialist Nicaragua could well have served as a model for other Third World states. After showing why participating democracy didn't triumph, they conclude with an assessment of the 1990 elections and their impact on the future of democracy in Nicaragua. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

First published in 1986, Nicaragua, written from an insider's point of view breaks the barrier of disinformation which has surrounded the Sandinista revolution. To accomplish this task the author discusses the major forces that have shaped Nicaragua’s development during the past decade as well as all pertinent events leading to and following the revolution. It is the author's contention that the Sandinista revolution is an unusual combination of armed struggle to reach power and democratic procedures to build a new society. This makes the revolution a very dangerous example for the stability of a hegemonic state that tries to pacify the needs of the masses by means of repression and spurious applications of democratic principles. This book's main thesis is that socialism and democracy are not contradictory but are part of the same process. Thus, any attempt to think in terms of necessary stages is misreading the classics of Marx and Lenin. This book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of political science, Latin American studies, Latin American history and politics.

First published in 1986, Nicaragua, written from an insider's point of view breaks the barrier of disinformation which has surrounded the Sandinista revolution. To accomplish this task the author discusses the major forces that have shaped Nicaragua's development during the past decade as well as all pertinent events leading to and following the revolution. It is the author's contention that the Sandinista revolution is an unusual combination of armed struggle to reach power and democratic procedures to build a new society. This makes the revolution a very dangerous example for the stability of a hegemonic state that tries to pacify the needs of the masses by means of repression and spurious applications of democratic principles. This book's main thesis is that socialism and democracy are not contradictory but are part of the same process. Thus, any attempt to think in terms of necessary stages is misreading the classics of Marx and Lenin. This book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of political science, Latin American studies, Latin American history and politics.

This volume is a valuable re-assessment of the Nicaraguan Revolution by a Marxist historian of Latin American political history. It shows that the FSLN’s lack of commitment to democracy was a key factor in the way that the revolution went awry.

Taking power in Nicaragua in 1979 as a revolutionary party, the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) was willing to put its fate in the hands of the Nicaraguan people twice, in 1984 and 1990. The party wrote a democratic constitution and then, remarkably, accepted the decision of the majority by relinquishing power upon its defeat in the 1990 election. The Many Faces of Sandinista Democracy explores the conflicts involving different visions of political and economic democracy, as well as new radical thought on participatory democracy. The latter addresses the problems popular organizations encountered as they moved from subservience to the FSLN in the 1980s to the liberating but disorientating electoral defeat of 1990. Up until the moment of defeat, the Sandinistas saw themselves as the true vanguard of the Nicaraguan people, able to submit themselves to free elections, because they felt they truly represented the general will of the people. Dr. Hoyt brings to an international audience for the first time a study of the ideas of several Nicaraguan thinkers. She examines the conflicts surrounding the development of ideas within the FSLN, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of its rare combination of democratic and vanguard principles.

The Sandinista revolution brought dramatic social, economic and political changes to Nicaragua in the 1980s, but in the wake of the electoral defeat of the FSLN in 1990 the revolution has struggled to survive in the face of challenges from the Chamorro administration, the US government, and the International Monetary Fund. Gains of the revolution in health care, education, Atlantic Coast autonomy, agrarian reform, and other areas have been systematically eroded. However, significant efforts have also been mounted, especially in grass roots organizing and by women's organizations, to protect the revolution's achievements. Through a series of articles based on current research, seven experts on contemporary Nicaragua draw a balance sheet on the gains of Sandinista revolution achieved by 1990 and assess the current status of the revolutionary project.