This paper looks at the growth and strengthening of democracy in Nicaragua from
the Sandinista revolution until 2003, taking into account the threat posed by
the pacto and a popular waning of enthusiasm for democracy in the nation.

You can read it in PDF format here.

In 1979, the Central American nation of Nicaragua, seething with political and
economic discontent under an unjust and heavy-handed dictatorship slipped the
reigns of autocracy and proceeded through two decades of political and economic
growth that included aspects of Marxism, Leninism, Liberation theology, free
market reforms, and democracy.  It was one of several nations that made up the
aptly named "Third Wave" of democratization, which in the late 20th century
swept through significant areas of Southern, Central, and Eastern Europe, Latin
America, and South and Southeast Asia, causing the number of governments
classified as "democracies" to nearly triple.  In Central America, Nicaragua
was nearly unique in making this perilous and dangerous transition.