Decision-Making Design in the Appointment of Heads of Oversight Institutions in Costa Rica: The Case of the Ombudsman’s Office

Abstract

The appointment of the leaders of political control organs, is critical to the profile of a democratic political system for the functioning of its institutions. It is imperative that the design rules may in advance generate confidence about the relevance, correctness and appropriateness in the respective decision-making model. This article is a product of the research “The modeling of governance based on the Theory of Games”, inscribed on the “Vicerrectoría de Investigación” at the University of Costa Rica (213-A6-015), which attempted to model decision situations based on game theory. In particular, this article makes an analysis of the proposed institutional design that ultimately culminated in the choice of medic Quesada Tristán, at the head of the “Defensoría de los Habitantes” in 2005.