Demoperfectocracia was the word used by the famous Costa Rican writer, Yolanda Oreamuno, to refer to the Costa Rican political system of the 1930s. The ironic meaning of the term was not accidental: at the time, various intellectuals and politicians doubted that Costa Rica was a democracy, an approach that was recovered and emphasized, starting in the 1980s, by different social researchers.

The perspective that guides this book is very different: it starts from the fact that, between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, Costa Rica underwent a decisive transition towards a pre-reformed democracy, during which periodic and competitive elections became the nexus fundamental between popular demands and public policies. The long-term result of this connection was a socially oriented political system.