However, what was playing out in Chihuahua had a profound effect on the country as a whole. All the major social and political institutions that were active on the local level, i.e. the PRI, the PAN, the Church, banking institutions, were all major players on the national level as well. What happened in Chihuahua, because of the state's importance in the overall economy and the political awakening that occurred, spread as a wildfire throughout Mexico.
It is the author's contention that "one reason that active citizens are good for democracy is because of their effect on the institutional structure of society" (Chand, 2001, p.5). Increased participation in the political process combined with strong social institutions, such as the church, townships, and municipal governments, tend to check the dictatorial powers of the state, and allow to extract any necessary democratic reforms.
Similar to Chand's book is the anthology by Dominguez and Poire (1999), titled: "Toward Mexico's Democratization". This book, in numerous chapters, also depicts the transformation of Mexico's electoral and party systems toward fair and free elections, resulting in an increased awareness and participation in Mexico's democratization. However, Dominguez and Poire attribute the increase in political awareness not only to the fraudulent elections in 1988, but also to the shift in population age. Never before has Mexico had so many young, educated, politically active and better off people. These citizens constitute the core of the PAN party, whereas the PRI voters generally are less educated, older, and from poorer areas of Mexico.
In addition, gender politics became an important factor in the post 1988 elections. From 1988 through 1997, strong feminist and other civil society movements, such as human rights and citizen's movements·with which the feminists built alliances·emerged. This formerly underrepresented group created a number of female le...