History of the Costa Rican legislature

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Costa Rica has one of the world's oldest democracies, and its legislature has changed many times. Before independence, laws were made by the Spanish King with the Cortes. In 1812 the Cortes issued a constitution allowing them to propose and pass laws with the Monarch.

In 1821 Costa Rica broke away from Spain and formed a provisional government called the Pact of Concord. A seven‑member Provisional Government Junta ran the country. In 1823–24 two Political Statutes created the Diputación de Costa Rica, a small legislature that acted like Congress to run the province while the federation was being set up. In the same period, Costa Rica joined the Federal Republic of Central America, which had its own Federal Congress with a lower chamber and a Senate.

Costa Rica later drafted its own constitutions. The 1844 Political Constitution created a bicameral Congress: a Chamber of Representatives and a Senate. This arrangement appeared in several later constitutions, though the size and rules changed. The 1871 constitution briefly returned the country to a unicameral system.

In 1917 a new constitution again created a bicameral legislature (Chamber of Deputies and Senate), but it lasted only until 1919, when the government fell.

The 1948 civil war brought major changes. The 1949 Constitution created a unicameral Legislative Assembly with 57 deputies. The number 57 was kept by Law 2741 in 1961 and remains the fixed number today. Since then Costa Rica has had a single legislative chamber.

Today the Legislative Assembly has 57 deputies, elected by proportional representation on closed party lists. There have been many proposals to change the system, such as increasing the number of deputies, moving to direct voting, reforming the legislative process, or adopting a parliamentary system. Some proposals would reintroduce a bicameral legislature, but none has been adopted.