The type of political regime affects the country's capacity for enhancing social welfare, improving economic growth and maintaining environmental sustainability. Forces among state institutions, organizations, and interest groups are the key elements in the process of sustainable policy making. Also, international forces play a key role in shaping development in these countries. The experiences of Costa Rica and Cuba show that open participatory process increases state activism and capacity for establishing sustainable development policies in democratic regimes. The centralized decision-making process in the communist regime reduces policy effectiveness and increases the cost for the state. The collective effort of civil society played a major role in the case of Costa Rica, while in Cuba this has been a state driven process.
