Revolution, Participatory Democracy, and Property (the Nicaraguan Property Regime after Sandinista Land Reform

Abstract:     
Following forty years of dictatorship, disagreement concerning the legitimacy of Sandinista land reform occupies a central place in the process of forging and consolidating Nicaraguan democracy. For much of the 1980's, this disagreement fueled a highly divisive and destructive civil war. The war finally ended in 1989, due more to the sheer exhaustion of the population than to any lasting resolution of the conflicts that gave rise to it. Since the signing of the peace accords, conflict over land reform continues within both political and legal discourse. The contributions to this symposium represent an attempt to widen and deepen this discourse, and to help resolve the numerous disputes over property entitlements that currently threaten the stability of Nicaragua's fragile democratic order. The essays offer insight into the relation between Nicaraguan land reform and property law, and more generally between revolution and legality.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 5

Keywords: Nicaragua, property reform, revolution

Accepted Paper Series