Case of Mexico


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

Case of Mexico

Case of Mexico: Mexico became independent in 1930. It holds elections after every six years to elect its President. Mexico has never been under military or dictator’s rule. Till 2000, all the Presidential elections were won by the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party), as they employed many corrupt practices and unethical means to win the elections everytime. All the government officers had to attend party meetings. Teachers of government schools used to force parents to vote for the PRI. Sometimes polling booths were shifted from one place to another to make it difficult for the people to cast their votes.

From 1929 to 2000, just one political party ruled Mexico: the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).3 Based initially on nationalistic and social justice principles, through time it veered to the center –sometimes even to the right– of the political spectrum. Though other parties were allowed to exist, the PRI maintained absolute political hegemony.

The National Action Party (PAN) became the main opposition party since its founding in 1939. It defines itself as devoted to "political humanism," that is, liberal values based on respect for the individual. Often labeled as center–right, it is close to Christian Democratic parties elsewhere in Latin America and Europe. It combines a liberal approach to economics with a conservative approach to moral and some social issues. Another significant opposition party was founded in 1989: the left–wing Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).

Since 1988, PRI hegemony weakened. Social modernization induced political pluralism. Economic crisis eroded the PRI vote. The media opened up to independent and opposition voices. The opposition parties received public funding. New electoral laws, practices, and institutions were created to level the playing field. As a result, a process of transition to democracy sped up.

In 2000, Vicente Fox won the presidential election as the candidate of a coalition of the PAN and the Green Ecologist Party of Mexico (PVEM). The PRI came in second and the PRD, third. The peaceful, uncontested election of an opposition candidate after seven decades of one–party rule was a turning point signaling that Mexico had attained electoral democracy.

Conclusion of Both the Cases: In both the cases of China and Mexico, it does not appear that the elections have been held properly. Holding elections of any kind is not sufficient. The elections must offer a real choice between political alternatives, People should have right to use this choice to remove the existing rulers, if they wish. So, these examples are not of true democracies. Thus, another feature of democracy is that a democracy must be based on a free and fair election where those currently in power have a fair chance of losing.

 
 


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