Costa Rica is a long-established democratic republic with a presidential system and a strong constitutional framework dating to 1949. The country maintains a unicameral 57-member Legislative Assembly and is characterized by significant party fragmentation, with President Rodrigo Chaves' government holding a minority position in the legislature. Costa Rica has sustained civilian democratic governance and peaceful power transfers for over seven decades, though recent years have seen increased ideological polarization and coordination challenges between the executive and legislative branches.