The Political Constitution of the
State of Costa Rica was promulgated on February 10, 1847 under the interim government of
José María Alfaro Zamora
José María Alfaro Zamora (March 20, 1799 – June 12, 1856) was the Costa Rican Head of State between the periods of 1842 and 1844 as well as 1846 and 1847 and President of Costa Rica between May 1 and May 8, 1847.
Early life and family ...
who convened a Constituent Assembly for that purpose through elections on August 23, 1846.
This was the first Constitution that established the figure of the
Vice President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
, as well as two ministers; of Relations, Governance, Justice and Ecclesiastical Businesses and of Finance, Public Education, War and Navy. The municipalities are also restricted to mentioning that there will be one Governor per Department.
In 1848, a series of reforms to the Constitution were carried out, again via the Constituent Assembly, which, among other things, changed the name of the country of State of Costa Rica to the
Republic of Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
and granted greater powers to the
Executive Branch
The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a State (polity), state.
In poli ...
, especially in matters of public appointments. and administrative decisions, that is, it is getting closer and closer to
presidentialism
A presidential system, or single executive system, is a form of government in which a head of government, typically with the title of president, leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch in systems that use separation ...
.
References
{{Constitutions of Costa Rica
Constitutions of Costa Rica