Associations and activism: Mobilization of urban informal workers in CostaRica and Nicaragua

Studies of Latin American civil society tend to assume that popular organiz ations promote "high-intensity" forms of political participation while poli tical parties mainly encourage voting. This study compares the influence of these two forces in the urban informal sector. Association involvement, lo w in both samples, is related to "higher-intensity" participation, but the differential influence of associations and parties holds only for Costa Ric a; Nicaragua's revolutionary FSLN has fostered a more politically active ci tizenry.