The changing role of local government in the Nicaraguan revolution.

Nicaragua is undergoing a profound process of social transformation and transition to a new society in which the changes inevitably develop at uneven rhythms among the different levels of social, political, and production relations. The article discusses the changing role of local government in the Nicaraguan revolution. It provides information primarily on the changes in local government, since in many ways these transformations parallel those in other aspects of the society; this discussion also provides insights into the latter. It deals with the longstanding discussion as to whether a process of institutionalization is somehow contradictory to the nature of revolution. The Nicaraguan process shows the possibility and necessity of institutionalization as a means of spreading and consolidating successful experiments throughout the society. Nicaraguan experience is an auspicious example of a revolutionary process, which has developed concrete organs of popular participation and management while thus far avoiding some of the negative effects such as excessive centralization and bureaucratization often considered as inevitable results of the consolidation of such a process.