Nicaragua operates as a presidential republic in which the executive serves as both head of state and head of government. Nicaragua has a multi-party system for elections. Executive power is exercised by the government, while legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. The judiciary is heavily influenced by the Presidency.[1]
Nicaragua is consistently ranked as one of the least democratic countries in Latin America, with significant human rights violations.[1] Since Daniel Ortega's return to presidential office in 2007, Nicaragua has experienced democratic backsliding, as Ortega has centralized power and repressed the political opposition.[2][3][4] Scholars describe Nicaragua as somewhere between a competitive authoritarian regime and a full authoritarian regime.[2][4] The dominant political party in Nicaragua, FSLN, is firmly controlled by Ortega.[3] Despite his left-wing revolutionary rhetoric, Ortega has allied with the business class and enacted what scholars characterize as crony capitalism.[3]
In 1984, the electoral system was established in Nicaragua. The state completed its transition to an electoral democracy in 1990.[1] In 1995, the executive and legislative branches negotiated a reform of the 1987 Sandinista constitution which gave extensive new powers and independence to the National Assembly, including permitting the Assembly to override a presidential veto with a simple majority vote and eliminating the president's ability to pocket veto a bill. Members of the unicameral National Assembly were elected to concurrent five-year terms. The constitution guarantees a comprehensive range of rights related to association and assembly. These rights were upheld for three terms after the transition to democracy in 1990, but in 2007, with Ortega’s ascension to the Presidency, these rights were limited.[5]
In January of 2000, two opposing political leaders, Arnoldo Alemán of the Liberal Constitutionalist Party and Daniel Ortega of the Sandinista National Liberation Front, came together to formally establish “El Pacto”, an amendment to the Nicaraguan constitution. This agreement filled seats within government with officials from each party in an attempt to champion political stabilization and make governmental institutions more streamlined. However, this restricted opposition parties' ability to enter politics and limited political participation. The amendment also granted the President immunity from prosecution unless there was a vote in the National Assembly that achieved over two-thirds of the vote to remove it. Additionally, it states that after an election, there are reserved seats for both the former President and Vice President in the National Assembly. Finally, this also changed the requirements to become President by reducing the vote percentage needed to avoid a run-off election to forty percent. It also allowed a candidate to win with thirty-five percent of the vote if they achieved at least five percent more than the runner-up.[6]
In January 2014, the National Assembly approved changes to the constitution, removing presidential term limits. This allowed current President Daniel Ortega to run for a third successive term.[7] The reform scraps the previous amendment that a candidate must achieve thirty-five percent of the vote. Additionally, it allows for the appointment of active duty policy and military officials to government offices that were previously held by civilians. By expanding Presidential powers, Ortega was no longer required to appear before the National Assembly to deliver reports, and this allowed him to issue executive orders with greater autonomy.[8] Moreover, these reforms formalized the Councils of Citizen Power – a system of neighborhood committees that served as bodies of participatory democracy. However, because they are required to support presidential plans, the CPCs have become subject to partisan control mechanisms.[8]
In February 2023, Article 21 of the National Assembly amended the constitution to allow the government to remove the citizenship of anyone categorized as a traitor. This resulted in political prisoners being exiled.[1] In 2024, the National Assembly passed several amendments legalizing the practice of the government seizing the property and assets of political opponents. The National Assembly gave the regime access to remittances and the ability to seize any electronic transfers considered suspicious through the amendment of the Financial Analysis Unit Law in September 2024.[1]
In 2025, Nicaragua’s constitution underwent significant reforms that formally established the position of “co-president” for Rosario Murillo, elevated the Sandinista flag as a national symbol, and legitimized the “Volunteer Police” as an auxiliary body composed of institutionalized paramilitary groups.[9]
The president and the vice president are elected for a single five-year term. With the reform of the constitution in 2014 the ban on re-election of the president has been removed.[5] The president appoints the Council of Ministers.
Daniel Ortega previously led Nicaragua through revolution and civil war, but was voted out in 1990.[10] He was then elected as a left-wing leader in the 2006 elections. By returning to authoritarian methods, he has remained in power. In 2025, lawmakers approved a constitutional amendment elevating Ortega’s wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, to the position of co-president.[10]
The 2014 constitutional reforms re-established a direct relationship between the executive, military, and the police that would bypass civilian ministers and allow them to occupy bureaucratic positions for “national security reasons.”[8] As a result, the military is now in charge of intelligence and security. Through a vast surveillance network controlled by Co-Presidents Ortega and Murillo, the Nicaraguan Telecommunications and Postal Institute (TELCOR) has actively collaborated with this state police to host “troll farms” that threatened Nicaraguans.
The National Assembly(Asamblea Nacional) consists of 90 deputies elected from party lists drawn at the department and national level, plus the outgoing president and the runner-up in the presidential race, for a total of 92. Members are directly elected by a popular vote on a proportional representation basis from party lists. In the 2011 elections, the Sandinista National Liberation Front won 63 seats (securing a majority), the Independent Liberal Party won 27 seats, and the Constitutionalist Liberal Party won 2 seats. This includes seats given to outgoing Vice President Jaime Morales Carazo and presidential runner-up Fabio Gadea Mantilla.
In 2011, the outgoing Vice President Jaime Morales Carazot's seat would usually have gone to the outgoing president. However, after the Constitution was modified to remove term limits, Danial Ortega was re-elected. After the passage of the Law in Defense of the Rights of the People to Independence in 2020, the government arrested opposition candidates prior to the 2021 legislative elections. The Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) annulled the legal status of rival parties.[1]
Judicial branch
The Supreme Court of Justice supervises the functioning of the still largely ineffective and overburdened judicial system. As part of the 1995 constitutional reforms, the independence of the Supreme Court was strengthened by increasing the number of magistrates from 9 to 12. In 2000, the number of Supreme Court Justices was increased to 16. Supreme Court justices are nominated by the political parties and elected to 7-year terms by the National Assembly.[11] Justices are also responsible for appointing judges to the lower courts.
However, Nicaragua currently does not have an independent judiciary because judges are nominated by the executive branch. In 2021, the judiciary ended the legal status of opposition parties and began ordering the arrests of opposition members in “sham trials” where defendants were convicted of undermining judicial integrity.[1] In 2023, then Vice President Murillo dismissed at least 900 judges and officials. In July 2024, 50 new judges with no formal judicial training were appointed on partisan grounds. In January and May 2024, judicial independence was further weakened through the lowering of the Judicial budget when the National Assembly approved reforms to the Judicial Career Law and Organic Law of the Judiciary.[1]
Additionally, Nicaragua has faced rampant due process violations since the 2018 protests. Police conduct politically motivated arrests, and authorities often act without warrants.[1] Political prisoners face severe abuses, including psychological and physical torture, sexual violence, disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and forced confessions.[1]
Previously, Nicaragua held elections for a directly elected president every five years. However, in 2014, constitutional reforms led to the elimination of term limits.[12] Consequently, Daniel Ortega has been the President since 2006. In 2020, the National Assembly passed the Law in Defense of the Rights of the People to Independence.[1] The Ortega administration uses this law to detain opposition candidates and prevent government critics from holding office.
The National Assembly consists of 92 seats. Members are chosen through proportional representation. Two of the seats go to the former president and the runner-up in the most recent election. Legislative elections take place every five years.[1]
The main political party is the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), led by Ortega. Following the passage of the Law in Defense of the Rights of the People to Independence in 2020, the government arrested opposition candidates prior to the 2021 legislative elections, and the legal status of rival parties was annulled by the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE).[1]
Electoral branch
Historically, led by a council of seven magistrates, the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) is the co-equal branch of government responsible for organizing and conducting elections, plebiscites, and referendums. The magistrates and their alternates are elected to 5-year terms by the National Assembly. Constitutional changes in 2000 expanded the number of CSE magistrates from five to seven and gave the PLC and the FSLN a freer hand to name party activists to the council, prompting allegations that both parties were politicizing electoral institutions and processes and excluding smaller political parties.
On November 22, 2024, the National Assembly approved reforms, which went into effect on February 18, 2025. The constitutional reforms include the establishment of a co-presidency, an extension of presidential terms, and the centralization of state powers.[13] State power is centralized under the presidency, which coordinates the electoral body. The presidency supervises the electoral office and appoints the president and vice president of the office for six-year terms.[13]
In the constitution, Nicaragua looks like it has human rights. However, in a state where the government is known for violent repression and it is illegal to even wave the national flag or sing the national anthem in public, there is little legitimacy in the constitution.[14] Freedom of speech is a right guaranteed by the Nicaraguan constitution, but media has come under censorship from time to time.[15][16][17] Other constitutional freedoms include peaceful assembly and association, freedom of religion, and freedom of movement within the country, as well as foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation. The government also permits domestic and international human rights monitors to operate freely in Nicaragua. The constitution prohibits discrimination based on birth, nationality, political belief, race, gender, language, religion, opinion, national origin, economic or social condition. Same-sex relationships have been legal since 2008. All public and private sector workers, except the military and the police, are entitled to form and join unions of their own choosing, and they exercise this right extensively.[18] Nearly half of Nicaragua's work force, including agricultural workers, is unionized.[19] Workers have the right to strike. Collective bargaining is becoming more common in the private sector.[20]
However, in reality, Nicaragua faces high levels of repression. Individuals deal with major obstacles to freedom of movement regarding their place of residence, education, and employment. Beginning in 2018, there was a mass repression of protestors that resulted in 355 deaths at the hands of paramilitaries. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) responded by publishing a report, directly blaming the Nicaraguan government for the repression and calling for decisive action. Ortega denied the UN’s claims and refused to step down from the presidency. Instead, he expelled the UN human rights team from operating in Nicaragua.[21] This was followed by a massive crackdown on political opponents in 2021. The ongoing surveillance and harassment of civilians by police and paramilitary groups result in an environment of fear, discouraging free movement, on top of the limitations already provided by poor infrastructure.[1] Additionally, surveillance in Nicaragua extends into the digital realm through intercepting phone calls, hacking devices, and installing spyware to maintain control over the people.[22] These operations are controlled by government institutions and the FSLN, answering directly to Co-Presidents Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. The government’s repression also extends beyond its borders, targeting exiled Nicaraguans abroad whom it considers “traitors to their homeland.”[22] This is carried out by refusing to renew passports, erasing birth certificates, confiscating property, and banning reentry.
While property rights are protected by the Constitution, the reality is much more complicated. The Ortega regime often seizes private assets of political opponents. Gender based violence is a serious human rights concern, with 76 femicides reported in the first 11 months of 2024. Abortion is illegal and can result in 8 years of imprisonment. Nicaraguan women and children are at a high risk of experiencing sex trafficking.[1]
There have also been reports of possible electoral manipulation techniques. The Ortega-Murillo family owns seven radio stations and three television channels in Nicaragua. In addition to control of the media, there have been documented cases of vote miscounting, record falsification, and ballot-box destruction in 2008. A reform in 2012, enacted by the National Assembly, facilitated the purging of electoral rolls by allowing CSE to continuously review and remove citizens who have not voted since 2006.[8]
Nicaragua is divided into 15 departments: Boaco, Carazo, Chinandega, Chontales, Estelí, Granada, Jinotega, León, Madriz, Managua, Masaya, Matagalpa, Nueva Segovia, Rivas, Río San Juan, as well as in two autonomous regions: North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region and South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region. These two autonomous regions were developed from the former Mosquito Coast, which functioned as a British protectorate and therefore formed very different forms of government. In February of 1894, former President Zelaya militarily incorporated the coast, forcing the region to operate within the centralized governance structure and disregarding local culture. Following the 1979 Sandinista Revolution, the country was undergoing major political and social reforms. This resulted in the Law of Autonomy for the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua in 1987, which granted the two regions autonomy in an attempt to recognize the diverse culture and structure of the region.[23]
During the 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis, Daniel Ortega announced that Nicaragua was breaking diplomatic relations with Colombia on March 6, “in solidarity with the Ecuadorian people." Additionally, Nicaragua also held relationships with other Latin American countries like Venezuela, which allowed them privileged access to the market, boosting their exports. Their relation with Costa Rica, however, was strained by territorial disputes over the San Juan River and the 2015 Cuban Refugee crisis.
Nicaragua has ongoing tensions with the United States. The presence of the U.S. Marines in Nicaragua in the 20th century created lasting animosity towards the United States. More recently, the United States was opposed to Ortega during the 2006 election due to his authoritarian tendencies. The United States unsuccessfully attempted to thwart Ortega’s election. However, Ortega’s willingness to cooperate with counter-narcotics programs and international financial institutions improved relations. Furthermore, Ortega participated in the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), making Ortega a reliable partner in an unstable region. After the 2018 civil insurrection, the U.S. denounced government repression and worked with the Catholic Church to support internal dialogue within Nicaragua. Consequently, the U.S. has continuously reduced development assistance. The United States concluded that it was useless to attempt mediation without evidence that Ortega had decided to soften his position.[24]
Political pressure groups
Some political pressure groups are:
National Workers Front or FNT is a Sandinista umbrella group of eight labor unions, including
Farm Workers Association or ATC
Health Workers Federation or FETSALUD
Heroes and Martyrs Confederation of Professional Associations or CONAPRO
National Association of Educators of Nicaragua or ANDEN
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Nicaraguaportal 
