Editing Politics of Costa Rica (section)

== Branches of government ==

=== Executive branch ===
[[File:Luis Guillermo Solís 01.jpg|thumb|Luis Guillermo Solís has served as president between 2014 and 2018. He is the first President in 66 years not to come from the [[Political parties in Costa Rica|two-party system]].]]
Executive responsibilities are vested in a [[List of Presidents of Costa Rica|president]], who is elected to a term of four years directly by the voters, not by the National Assembly as it would be in a parliamentary system. There also are two vice presidents and the president's cabinet composed of his ministers.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://whitepages.cr/gov| title = List of Costa and Ministries with phonenumbers}}</ref> A constitutional amendment approved in 1969 limits presidents and deputies to one term, although a deputy may run again for an Assembly seat after sitting out a term. The prohibition was officially recognized as unconstitutional in April 2004, allowing [[Óscar Arias]] to run for president a second time in the [[Costa Rica presidential elections, 2006|2006 Costa Rican presidential elections]], which he won with approximately a 1% margin.

The President of Costa Rica has limited powers, particularly in comparison to other Latin American Presidents. For example, he cannot veto the legislative budget, and thus Congress is sovereign over the year's single most important piece of legislation. On the other hand, he can appoint anyone to his cabinet without approval from Congress. This provides the single most important power versus Congress that any Costa Rican President has.

{{office-table}}
|[[President of Costa Rica|President]]
|[[Rodrigo Chaves Robles]]
|[[Social Democratic Progress Party]]
|8 May 2022
|-
| [[Vice President of Costa Rica|1st Vice President]]
| [[Stephan Brunner]]
| [[Social Democratic Progress Party]]
| 8 May 2022
|-
| [[Vice President of Costa Rica|2nd Vice Presidents]]
| [[Mary Munive]]
| [[Social Democratic Progress Party]]
| 8 May 2022
|}

==== Ministries ====
* [[Ministry of the Presidency (Costa Rica)|Ministry of the Presidency]]
* [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship (Costa Rica)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship]]
* [[Ministry of Finance (Costa Rica)|Ministry of Finance]]
* Ministry of Public Security
* Ministry of Justice and Peace
* Ministry of Public Education
* Ministry of Public Works and Transports
* Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce
* Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock
* Ministry of Health
* Ministry of Labour and Social Security
* Ministry of Culture and Youth
* Ministry of National Planning and Economical Policy
* [[Ministry of Environment and Energy (Costa Rica)|Ministry of Environment and Energy]]
* Ministry of Housing and Human Settlements
* [[Ministry of Foreign Trade (Costa Rica)|Ministry of Foreign Trade]]
* [[Ministry of Science, Technology and Telecommunications]]
* Ministry of Communication

=== Legislative branch ===
{{See also|History of the Costa Rican legislature}}

[[File:Edificio_de_la_Asamblea_Legislativa_de_Costa_Rica.jpg|thumb|Meeting place of the congress of Costa Rica]]

Legislative powers are held by the [[Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica|Legislative Assembly]]. Legislators, called deputies, are elected to non-consecutive four-year terms by popular, [[direct vote]], using [[proportional representation]] in each of the country's seven provinces. As a result, there are nine separate political parties serving in the Legislative Assembly, with [[National Liberation Party (Costa Rica)|National Liberation Party]] holding 18 seats, the [[Citizens' Action Party (Costa Rica)|Citizens' Action Party]] holding 13, and [[Broad Front (Costa Rica)|Broad Front]] and the [[Social Christian Unity Party]] each holding 8. Other parties hold the remaining seats.<ref name=WFB>{{Cite CIA World Factbook|country=Costa Rica|access-date=3 April 2014}}</ref>

{{office-table}}
|[[Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica|Legislative Assembly President]]
|[[Rodrigo Arias Sánchez]]
|[[National Liberation Party (Costa Rica)|National Liberation Party]]
|8 May 2022
|}

=== Judicial branch ===
The main arm of the judiciary is the [[Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica|Supreme Court of Justice]]. Twenty-two magistrates are selected for the CSJ for 8-year terms by the Legislative Assembly, and lower courts. Sala IV, also known as the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court, reviews legislation, executive actions, and certain [[writ]]s for constitutionality. Courts below the Sala IV deal with issues involving legal and criminal disputes. Additionally, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE for its Spanish initials) is an independent branch of the CSJ, responsible for democratic elections. While the judiciary is independent of the politically elected executive and legislative branches, it is often responsible for resolving political and legal conflicts.<ref name="WFB"/>

=== Institutional oversight ===
A [[Comptroller|Comptroller General]], [[Procurator General (disambiguation)|Procurator General]], and an [[Ombudsman]] oversee the government and operate autonomously. These institutions have the right to scrutinize, investigate and prosecute government contracts. In addition, they may impose procedural requirements on most political and governmental agencies. The actions of politicians and political parties are frequently researched by these institutions.