Mexico’s Democratic Transition and Consolidation since 1977

Abstract

Abstract In 1977, Mexico’s hegemonic ruling party, the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), initiated an incremental transition to democracy that was propelled forward at significant moments by civil society, a more independent media, and political and economic crises. The PRI finally lost its absolute majority in the Chamber of Deputies in 1997 and conceded the presidency three years later to Vicente Fox of the center-right PAN (Partido de Acción Nacional). Mexican democratization focused on running clean elections and strengthening political parties, leaving authoritarian legal and police institutions intact. Moreover, the administrations of PANistas Fox and Felipe Calderón (2000–2012) failed to dismantle Mexico’s corrupt corporatist political system. Democratic consolidation marched hand in hand with spiraling violence and lackluster economic performance. The PRI’s disastrous return to power in 2012 brought the party’s culture of corruption and impunity into clear focus, while the violence raged unabated. In the 2018 elections, Mexicans exercised their hard-fought democratic rights to reject the establishment and deliver stunning victories to populist Andrés Manuel López Obrador and his fledgling party, Morena. At this time, it is unclear whether AMLO’s self-proclaimed “fourth transformation” of Mexican political life will include a further consolidation of Mexico’s democratic institutions and practices.