Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1979 The aP rtido Liberacion Nacional of Costa Rica: a Case Study on Political Myth and Political Culture. John Charles Morgan Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Morgan, John Charles, "The aP rtido Liberacion Nacional of Costa Rica: a Case Study on Political Myth and Political Culture." (1979). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 3406. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/3406 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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Ml 4H100 18 HF DFCJRD ROW. L ON DON WO 1 H .« J. 1 NGL AND 7 < J 2 7 5 ie MORGAN, JJH‘j Ch a k l Ej THE Pai>TIDC' H HE R * C lno macXUNaL HF CH$tA p I c a t a case s r * * ■: / v ('m political wvth and POLJT ITAL CI I V ‘E . THE L n n l S l A " A 5 T A T f 'Jn TYE'<SITY AMD AGRICULTURAL A ‘u -’FLha^ICaL COL,, DH.Q.» 1 <370 COPR, 19T9 -'ORGAN, J f1 n« CHARLES University Microrilmb International «>0 \ t (J fHIAO ANN ftHHOH \0 4KlC*i @ 1979 JOHN CHARLES MORGAN ALL RIOTTS RESERVED THE PARTIDO LIBERACION NACIONAL OF COSTA RICA: A CASE STUDY ON POLITICAL MYTH AND POLITICAL CULTURE A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fu lfillm en t of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Political Science by John Charles Morgan B.A., University of Florida, 1965 M.A., University of South Carolina, 1970 August 1979 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS At various stages 1n the long process of writing a dissertation, I received Invaluable assistance from a variety of people. I want to take this opportunity to thank them for their generosity. In Costa Rica, Dr. Eugenio Fonseca Tort6s of the University of Costa Rica; Luis Alberto Monge, secretary general of the Parti do Llberad6n Nacional; and especially, lie. Rodrigo Carazo Odio, president of the Republic of Costa Rica, all gave generously of their time and political expertise. I also want to thank the staff of the Biblioteca Nacional in San Jose for their courteous attention to my many research needs. I am particularly indebted to our national lib ra ry , the Library of Congress, for providing me with an excellent place to work. The s ta ff on Deck D, the personnel of the Microfilm Division and the Hispanic Law Division merit special consideration. My major professor, Dr. Leonard Cardenas, J r ., deserves much of the credit for helping me to complete my graduate work success­ fu lly . His Insightful suggestions and his attention to the many technical details necessary for putting together a dissertation were essential. Above a l l , 1 am deeply grateful to Nancy Morgan, whose support and fa ith made the completion of my dissertation possible. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................... 1i ABSTRACT.......................................................................................... i1i Chapter I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 1 Political Culture .............................................................................. 5 Political Culture in Latin American Studies ...................... 14 M e th o d ......................................................................... 18 Geographical and Historical Background .............................. 20 Organization ...................................................................................... 27 I I . POLITICAL M Y T H ............................................................................................28 Political M yth .......................................................................................29 M y t h .............................................................................................................37 Political Myths and Political Culture ................................... 50 I I I . ASPECTS OF COSTA RICAN POLITICALCULTURE ................................. 56 Costa Rican C u ltu re ..............................................................................57 Three Costa Rican P o litical Concepts .................................. 62 Costa Rican P olitical Values ............................................. 78 IV. MYTHIC QUALITIES IN THE LIBERACION VERSION OF THE REVOLUTION....................................................................................................83 Main Characters in the M y th ............................................................. 87 Other Views of the Main C h a ra c te rs ............................................97 Conclusions ..............................................................................................114 V. POLITICAL VALUES IN THE MYTH OF THE REVOLUTION..................... 116 Honest Government .............................................................................. 120 Civil Rights ..........................................................................................123 V io le n c e .................................................................................................. 136 Electoral Integrity ......................................................................... 157 VI. THE MYTH AND LIBERACION NACIONAL................................................... 165 The Founding of Liberaci6n Nacional ....................................... 167 Myth and Im a g e ..................................................................................... 172 Use of the Myth by L ib eracid n ....................................................... 194 111 Chapter V II. CONCLUSIONS...................................................................................................198 The Hyth and Costa Rican Political Culture ....................... 199 Suggestions for Research on the Costa Rican Political Culture .............................................................................. 207 SOURCES CONSULTED ............................................................................................... 211 APPENDIX....................................................................................................................... 223 VITA ................................................................................................................................227 1 v ABSTRACT The purpose of this study 1s to examine the po litical mythology of the Partido L1beraci6n Nacional (National Liberation Party) of Costa Rica. The principal objectives are to show (1) that political myths provide a useful perspective In the study of p o litical culture, and (2) that specific political myths provide new insights into Costa Rican p o litical values. Beyond general agreement that p o litic a l culture is a useful concept, students of comparative politics disagree on Its meaning when applied to specific research problems. All would agree that the political culture of a country is a highly complex congery of psychological, normative, and perceptual properties. How best to meld this potentially enormous wealth of information Into a coherent and accurate characterization of a nation continues to divide specialists 1n comparative p o litic