Editing Politics of Costa Rica (section)

== Political parties ==
{{main|List of political parties in Costa Rica}}
{{see also|List of Costa Rican politicians}}

Currently, there are nine active political parties with representation in the [[Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica]]. An additional twelve parties ran, but did not receive enough votes to earn a seat in the assembly, making the total number of active parties in Costa Rica twenty-one. Starting in the 2000s, disagreement about many of the neo-liberal policies promoted by the dominant PLN caused the traditional party system of alliances among a few parties to fracture.<ref name=OSO>{{cite book|last=Booth|first=John A.|title=Political Parties in Costa Rica: Democratic Stability and Party System Change in a Latin American Context |date=January 2008|publisher=Oxford Scholarship Online |location=Oxford |isbn=9780199289653 |url=http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199289653.001.0001/acprof-9780199289653-chapter-11 |edition=1 |editor=Paul Webb and Stephen White|access-date=2 April 2014}}</ref> Although still a stable country, the shift toward many political parties and away from PUSC and PLN is a recent development.<ref name="TT McPhaul">{{cite news|last=McPhaul|first=John|title=Costa Rica elections demonstrate country's democratic stability|url=http://www.ticotimes.net/2014/02/08/costa-rica-elections-demonstrate-countrys-democratic-stability|access-date=2 April 2014|newspaper=The Tico Times|date=8 February 2014}}</ref> Various elected positions within the country, such as mayors and city council members, are held by many different national and local political parties.

{| border="1" class="wikitable sortable collapsible "
|-
! colspan="5"|'''Political parties in the Legislative Assembly, 2014–2018'''
|-
!  scope="col" | Party name (English)
!  scope="col" | Party name (Spanish)
!  scope="col" | Legislative seats (2014)
!  scope="col" | Ideology
!  scope="col" | Historic notes
|- 
| [[National Liberation Party (Costa Rica)|National Liberation Party]]
| Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN)
| 18
| Centrist, social democracy
| Founded in 1951. Controlled the legislative assembly since inception and presidency for all but four elections.
|- 
| [[Citizens' Action Party (Costa Rica)|Citizens' Action Party]]
| Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC)
| 13
| Progressive, social democracy
| Founded in 2002. Won presidential election of 2014.
|- 
| [[Broad Front (Costa Rica)|Broad Front]]
| Frente Amplio (FA)
| 9
| Green, progressivism, humanism
| Founded in 2004. Never controlled presidency.
|- 
| [[Social Christian Unity Party]]
| Partido Unidad Social Cristiana, (PUSC)
| 8
| Conservatism
| Founded 1983 by four opposition parties. The main historical opposition to PLN. Three presidential victories in 1990, 1998, and 2002. 
|- 
| [[Libertarian Movement (Costa Rica)|Libertarian Movement]]
| Partido Movimiento Libertario (PML)
| 4
| Classical liberalism, conservatism
| Founded 1994. Never controlled presidency.
|- 
| [[Costa Rican Renewal Party]]
| Partido Renovación Costarricense (PRC)
| 2
| Christian democracy, conservatism, right-wing
| Founded in 1995. Never controlled presidency.
|- 
| [[National Restoration Party (Costa Rica)]]
| Partido Restauración Nacional (PRN)
| 1
| Social Christianity, conservatism, right-wing
| Founded in 2005. Never controlled presidency.
|- 
| [[Accessibility without Exclusion]]
| Partido Accessibilidad sin Exclusión (PASE)
| 1
| Single issue, rights for people with disabilities
| Founded 2001. Never controlled presidency.
|-
| [[Christian Democratic Alliance (Costa Rica)|Christian Democratic Alliance]]
| Alianza Demócrata Cristiana (ADC)
| 1
| Conservative, provincial ([[Cartago Province|Cartago]])
| Founded in 2012. 
|}

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible "
! colspan="5" | '''Recent non-represented and defunct political parties'''
|-
! '''Party name (English)'''
! '''Party name (Spanish)'''
! '''Legislative seats (2014)'''
! '''Ideology'''
! '''Historic notes'''
|-
| [[National Union Party (Costa Rica)|National Union Party]]
| Partido Unión Nacional (PUN)
| 0
| Conservatism, Center-right
| Founded in 1901. Existed in various forms and coalition parties. Won the presidency four times (1902, 1928, 1948, 1958, 1966). 1948 election was unrecognized. Defunct as of 2010.
|-
| [[National Rescue Party]]
| Partido Rescate Nacional (PRN)
| 0
| Center-left, Moderate socialist
| Founded in 1996. Held one legislative seat in 2006. Defunct as of 2010.
|-
| [[Union for Change Party]]
| Partido Unión para el Cambio (PUC)
| 0
| Centrist, social democracy
| Founded in 2005. Existed for one election cycle as protest from ex-PLN members. Defunct as of 2010.
|-
| [[Homeland First Party]]
| Partido Patria Primero (PP)
| 0
| Conservative, social democracy, Catholic interest
| Founded in 2006. Existed for one election cycle as a protest from ex-PAC members. Defunct as of 2010.
|-
| National Democrat Alliance Party
| Partido Alianza Democrática Nacionalista
| 0
| Social democracy, nationalist
| Founded in 2004. Opposed [[Central American Free Trade Agreement|CAFTA]]. Defunct as of 2010. 
|-
| [[National Integration Party (Costa Rica)|National Integration Party]]
| Partido Integración Nacional (PIN)
| 0
| Conservatism, center
| Founded in 1998. Active as of 2014 election.
|}