“Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s inauguration solidifies the dominance of the populist Morena party in Mexico’s national politics. The rapid ascendency of Morena has been driven by popular frustration with the apparent inability of traditional political parties to combat insecurity, corruption, and economic inequality.
“This weakness has opened the door for Morena to cement its political dominance at the expense of Mexico’s political pluralism. If Mexico is to fulfill the promise of its constitutional democracy, the country’s political parties must recommit to healthy multiparty competition driven by constituent needs.
“Multiparty democracy is a relatively new development in Mexico. The country was essentially governed as a one-party state for most of the 20th century, with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) presiding over the country for more than seventy years. Over time, the political system gradually democratized and autonomous institutions like the independent electoral institute emerged – allowing greater political competition and eventually breaking the PRI’s hold on the presidency in the 2000 elections. In the years following that election, the party system institutionalized and provided voters a choice between the center-right National Action Party (PAN), leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and the centrist PRI parties. …”
Top