Electoral reform in Mexico 1988-2000, in a competitive party system

Abstract

An analysis of Mexico's electoral history is presented, and the electoral reforms carried out between 1989 and 1996 are explained. These reforms had in common: they were approved with the consensus of a plural party system, the creation of electoral regulations and the Federal Electoral Institute that organizes elections independently of the government. After 1988, the modus operandi of the Mexican political system changed, where the party-state regime lost the structures of control of the vote of the citizens who formed the ranks of corporatism in rural and urban areas, during the period of splendor of Mexican presidentialism. The electoral reforms granted freedom to the opposition political parties, political associations, citizens and their various civil organizations and non-governmental organizations to demand that the government respect the political, civil and social rights of citizens. The right to a free and secret vote and the unrestricted respect for the will of the majority, which is the basis and substance for the exercise of democratic and representative government, are highlighted. In 2000, citizens organized in opposition political parties managed to peacefully overthrow a party-state regime that had been in power for 71 years (through alternation), during which it generated exclusion, repression and neglect of the vulnerable and marginalized sectors of the country. Now with a competitive party system, citizens live in an environment with greater freedom and tolerance, and participate in competitive and transparent elections, through which they will assert their rights and be responsible with their civil, political and social obligations to demand that the rulers fulfill their commitments for the common good.