Although much of Central America passed from dictatorship and violent conflict
in the 1970s and 1980s to relative tranquillity and democratic forms in the 1990s,
Nicaragua alone made this transition through a successful insurrection and more
than a decade of revolutionary government. This unique case, with its possibly
unique implications for the future, therefore deserves careful examination. In this
chapter we will look closely at both the revolution -- its origins, nature, and
legacy -- and the process of democratic transition that began in the 1980s and
continued into the postrevolutionary period of the 1990s.

Under the direction of the Somozas and the stimulus of the Central American
Common Market and Alliance for Progress, Nicaragua underwent rapid indus-
trialization and expansion of commercial export agriculture during the 1960s
and early 1970s. Overall economic growth statistics were impressive; per capita
gross domestic product rose an average of almost 3.9 percent for the decade
1962-1971, and an average of 2.3 percent between 1972 and 1976 (see Appendix,
Table 1 ). One gauge of the extent and speed of social change during the CACM
boom is that between 1960 and 1970, real GDP per capita in Nicaragua rose by
54 percent -- by far the greatest increase in the region. This jump in overall pro-

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