Mexico's 1997 apportionment defies its electoral law

This paper draws on the legislative politics literature to explain the composition of commission assignments in the Mexican Chamber of Deputies. Members are elected to the chamber via a mixed method electoral system. Grounded in the argument of an 'electoral connection' and based on experiences in the German Bundestag, New Zealand, Japanese and Scottish parliaments and the Welsh Assembly, the literature to date predicts that the different routes to the legislature will produce different behaviour once someone is elected to the chamber. This is not the case for the Mexican Chamber of Deputies. The Mexican constitutional prohibition of re-election for Mexican federal deputies presents a number of obstacles for the 'electoral connection' to work and, in consequence, there is much weaker evidence in support of electoral system effects.

Politica Y Gobierno, 2020

espanolEste articulo estudia la democracia mexicana desde 1996 para comprender las motivaciones de los lideres de partido al crear y manipular leyes que defnen la competencia y la colusion electorales. Encuentra que los lideres de los tres principales partidos (PRI, PAN Y PRD) negociaron resultados institucionales que les permitieron hacer trampa en el corto plazo, a la vez que dejar las consecuencias reputacionales de una estrategia que erosionaba al arbitro electoral a los futuros lideres. Sin embargo, la sistematizacion de esa estrategia de incumplimiento condujo en ultima instancia a un desastre electoral. EnglishThis paper examines Mexico’s democracy since 1996 to understand the motivations of party leaders in creating and manipulating laws that shape competition and collusion. It fnds that party leaders negotiated institutional outcomes that allowed them to cheat in the short-term and leave consequences of a non-cooperative strategy to future leaders. However, at each stage of...

2017

Mexico has a chequered history when it comes to elections, with its electoral integrity occasionally coming under question. Here, Miguel Angel Lara Otaola assesses Mexico against the Perceptions of Electoral Integrity Index and analyses recent elections as well as the recent problems faced by the country from the disappearance of 43 students last year to the recent escape from prison by the top drug lord in the country.

Politica Y Gobierno, 2020

This paper analyzes the way in which the Mexican electorate modifed the confguration of the party system after the 2018 election. By analyzing the structure and dynamics of electoral competition, it explores different dimensions to determine the magnitude of the electoral change and its translation in the party system after this election. For this purpose, the paper compares the results of the presidential and federal deputies’ election in 2018, with the results of the elections held since the early 1990s. This research offers a historical perspective of the magnitude of the changes registered during this election in both the structure of electoral competition (the massive reorientation of the vote in a large part of the country, the re-concentration of power in a party, the reduction of partisan fragmentation and the changes in the nationalization of the vote of the main forces) and the dynamics of electoral competition (the emergence of the frst government of the unifed party from...

Como citar: Díaz-Jiménez, Oniel Francisco, & Vivero-Ávila, Igor. (2015). Las dimensiones de la competencia en el sistema de partidos mexicano (1979-2012). Convergencia, 22(68), 13-49., 2015

This article focuses on the major transformations in the Mexican party system that occurred during the protracted process of democratic transition; it is divided into three parts. The first part is a brief review of the factors that contributed to the process of political-electoral change. In the second part, we carry out an analysis of changes in a number of dimensions of the Mexican party system, based on aggregate electoral data at national and district levels, as well as on data from public opinion surveys. The third part presents an analysis of the ideological structure of political competitiveness based on data from surveys on the left-right ideological stances of Mexican federal legislators. The paper shows important changes in the structure and behaviour of the Mexican electorate, such as increasing partisan de-alignment, as well as a growing level of competitiveness and fractionalization of the party system. Key words: party system change, partisan de-alignment, electoral volatility, party fractionalization, party system nationalization, left-right ideological positioning. Resumen: El presente artículo se enfoca en las transformaciones relevantes del sistema mexicano de partidos ocurridas durante el prolongado proceso de transición democrática, y se divide en tres partes: en la primera se hace una breve revisión de los factores que coadyuvaron al cambio político-electoral; en la segunda presentamos un análisis de los cambios en diversas dimensiones del sistema mexicano de partidos, basado en datos electorales agregados a nivel nacional y distrital, así como en datos de encuestas de opinión pública; en la tercera parte se realiza un análisis de la estructura de competencia ideológica del sistema de partidos apoyada en datos de encuestas sobre la autoubicación y la ubicación ideológica en la dimensión izquierda-derecha de los legisladores federales. El trabajo muestra importantes cambios en la estructura y el comportamiento del electorado mexicano, incluyendo un creciente desalineamiento partidista, así como una mayor competitividad y fragmentación del sistema de partidos. Palabras clave: cambio en el sistema de partidos, fragmentación partidista, volatilidad electoral, nacionalización del sistema de partidos, desalineamiento partidista, ideología izquierda-derecha.

Journal of Theoretical Politics, 2001

This paper discusses the role of electoral institutional design in Mexico’s transition to democracy. Our argument is that electoral rules facilitated party dominance through two mechanisms: electoral rules disproportionately rewarded existing majorities and, at the same time, discouraged potential majorities from forming. More specifically, the rules rewarded parties that could win a majority of the vote in single-member districts; but at the same time, rewarded minority parties with seats from multi-member districts, mitigating Duvergerian incentives to coordinate behind a single challenger. In the short run, seats from multi-member districts benefited opposition parties by significantly reducing entry costs; in the long run, however, these seats helped sustain party dominance, by discouraging coordination among opposition parties and voters.

This paper analyzes the 2012 election in Mexico: the campaigns, the results, and the post-electoral dispute. Given the party’s authoritarian past, victory of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) has generated concern about a possible deterioration Mexico’s young democracy. However, an analysis of the election process actually suggests there are grounds for some optimism. The new configuration in Congress is conducive to passing structural reforms that might trigger faster economic growth. In addition, political parties, civic society and the international community will insist on the preservation of civic freedoms and electoral competition. A full resurrection of the “perfect dictatorship” is unthinkable.

1995

Antipode, 2001

Ciencia, Cultura y Sociedad, 2022

Este trabajo tiene como objetivo analizar la influencia de la pandemia del covid-19 en el abstencionismo electoral en México, tomando como referente el proceso electoral local de Hidalgo y Coahuila de 2020 y Federal de 2021. La metodología utilizada es el análisis exploratorio de datos y del entorno social y político a nivel nacional. Los resultados de los últimos procesos electorales en México muestran que el abstencionismo electoral se sigue manifestado en la vida democrática del país y que se ha incrementado a raíz de la pandemia del covid-19. Debido a la experiencia vivida con el proceso electoral de 2020, el INE (Instituto Nacional Electoral) se encuentra en un momento decisivo para elegir la forma de llevar a cabo el proceso electoral federal de 2021 teniendo como opciones estratégicas la aplicación de las medidas de higiene en las casillas electorales y el voto electrónico.

Following the 2006 post-electoral crisis, important changes were made to the Constitution and several ordinary laws in Mexico. Authorities touted that electoral reform as a major triumph for the country’s democracy. However, this paper will document at least four serious drawbacks: (1) weakening electoral institutions, (2) solidifying the hegemony of party bosses within their parties, (3) reducing freedom of speech during campaigns to protect the parties' image, and (4) monopolizing political communication in the hands of parties. I analyze such problems based on a detailed reading of the new law, a scrutiny of legislative opinions, a review of the public debate, and interviews with top officials in charge of implementation. I argue that Mexico illustrates two risks that other third-wave democracies may be facing too: democratic backsliding and partyarchy.

2003

Based on a data collection of 84 years of legislative activity of the Mexican Chamber of Deputies, we argue that the increase of the political plurality in the integration of the legislatures, has been a crucial element that influences the amendment and the approval of legislative bills, as well as the way the members of the Lower Chamber participate throughout the process of the presentation of initiatives. A series of institutional reforms like the creation of an official political party, the prohibition of the immediate re-election of legislators, the successive reforms in the formulas to choose popular representatives and the enhancement of electoral competition, produced changes in the integration of the political representation. From all theses changes we identify different historical patterns of behavior in Chamber of Deputies during the 20th Century.

In 2012, the simultaneous elections at the federal, state and municipal levels in Mexico reopened the debate about the path of democratic consolidation in the country. With the return of the Revolutionary Institutional Party to the presidency in 2013, there are renewed signs that Mexican democratic consolidation is underway. Particularly important in this process is that the 2012 gubernatorial and mayoral elections have been more competitive, resulting in higher political alternation in power between political parties. Under a changing subnational political context, there are indications that subnational politicians are no longer under the shadow of a dominant party system. As a more consolidated federal democracy, the political landscape in Mexico has become more complex.

Como citar: Díaz Jiménez, Oniel Francisco (2014). Party System Change in a New Democracy: The Case of Mexico. The Copernicus Journal of Political Studies, 5(1), 11–34., 2014

ABSTRACT: Since the end of the last century Mexico has experienced a profound process of political and electoral change which was reflected in its transition from a dominant party authoritarian regime to a competitive multiparty system. This paper has two parts and a concluding section. The first part focuses on major changes in a number of relevant dimensions of the Mexican party system, including electoral competitiveness, party fractionalisation, electoral volatility, nationalisation, and the aggregate distribution of partisan loyalties among the electorate (macropartisanship) over the last three decades. The analysis is based on aggregate electoral data at the national and the district level, as well as on data from surveys of public opinion. The paper shows important changes in the structure and behaviour of the Mexican electorate, such as increasing partisan de-alignment as well as growing competitiveness, fractionalisation, and nationalisation of the party system. The second part is a brief review of the factors driving the process of political and electoral change in Mexico. Key words: Party system change, competitiveness, dealignment, volatility, fractionalisation, nationalisation