Costa Rica's 2007 Referendum on the Dominican Republic - Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR): Citizen Participation or Manipulation?

Abstract

Advocates of referendums hold that this device represents an attractive complement to elections given its ability to inject vertical accountability into the representative structures of liberal democracies, to add legitimacy to difficult government decisions and to raise citizens’ levels of political knowledge. The Costa Rican referendum reported in this note represents an interesting case that invites us to reconsider these arguments. On 7 October 2007, 59.2% of the Costa Rican voters participated in a referendum regarding the ratification of the free trade agreement between Central America, the Dominican Republic and the US (CAFTA–DR). Not only was it the country’s first referendum, but it was the first referendum worldwide in which an electorate was given the opportunity to decide on a free trade agreement. However, the government-led ‘yes’ campaign, which was tarnished with accusations of manipulation, won by a tight margin of 48,844 votes and failed to add the necessary legitimacy to the controversial trade agreement. Five months after the referendum it thus remains doubtful if and when CAFTA–DR will be fully implemented.