Future of Mexico's Political System

Mexico's political awakening is detailed in Chand's (2001) aptly titled book: "Mexico's Political Awakening". In the introduction (Chand, 2001, pp. 1-11), the author summarizes his theories as to why and how seventy-one years of one-party rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) at the national level ended when the National Action Party (PAN) won the presidency in 2000. One critical factor was the political awakening of society, when many Mexican citizens, fed up with the corruption and election fraud that were so permeated within the PRI, joined civic organizations that promoted clean elections, or just joined opposition parties. The Church, the major opposition party, the PAN, and increased social leadership at the grass roots level all contributed to an increased awareness of the need for institutional and democratic reforms.

The book traces the development of these transformations through a regional case study that impacted on the national level. The

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oduction of the Rural Investment Program and the Village Food Store Program, both of which purported to help the poor without subjugating them to releasing their autonomy. These rural development reform programs, among others, allowed for better bargaining relations between the state and society, especially its poorest members, i.e. the peasantry. While these anti-poverty programs are aimed at making economic adjustment politically viable, it is the creation of political openings for social movements and non-governmental organizations, and the degree of political conditionality, which stipulates the extent of the transition from clientelism to citizenship. Mexico is in a transitory state where sub-national authoritarian regimes survive within a nationally competitive electoral system, and thus fails to achieve full democratic status. In "An Electoral Route to Democracy?", Joseph Klesner (1998, July) explores Mexico's transition from the PRI's elitist rule to political liberalization and democratization through the emergence of a political and civil society that allowed electoral participation. Klesner attributes the catalysts for this transitory state to three factors: The debt crisis in 1982 which led to the nationalization
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Approximate Word count = 2158
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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