The political economy of Nicaragua’s institutional and organisational framework for dealing with youth violence

Abstract

This paper discusses the policies and characteristics of the two main organisations that deal with youth violence in Nicaragua. It reveals their problems, deficiencies, ways of insertion into the institutional framework, contradictory priorities, and dysfunctional interactions. The paper presents the political interference that characterises and shapes these policies and organisations, subjecting their performance to power structures articulated by the national elites’ hegemony, the weak capacity of the Nicaraguan state apparatus, and the external nature of their sources of legitimacy.