The PRD Its Origins, Future, and Position in the New Order of Mexico
Mexico is unique in the realm of third world nations in the remarkable stability it has enjoyed in its government during the twentieth century. Whereas many nations have been embroiled in an oscillating process between military authoritarian rule and civilian semi-democracy Mexico has been marked by stable rule of the government with peaceful acts of succession. What is most unique about Mexico's government is that, while stable for over sixty years, it has not reached the level of a full democracy, instead it is a "semi-democracy" marked by a style of civilian authoritarian rule. This type of "hollow democracy" is a government and state ruled by one party, the Partido Revolucionario Institucional, in English the Institutional Revolutionary Party. The governing party is known more commonly by the acronym, PRI. The PRI has controlled the government and instituted a one-party state for over sixty years and had grown to control almost every aspect of the Mexican national, state, and local governments. Beginning, in the late 1980s and continuing throughout the 1990s, a gradual shift towards complete democratic government has begun in Mexico. New opposition parties have been formed, older opposition parties such as the PAN (Partido Acc
In subsequent elections, the PRD did not choose to actively participate in some levels of elections because they felt the PRI would just continue the practices of electoral fraud to guarantee favorable outcomes for PRI candidates. A more serious mistake made by the PRD that has thus far limited their appeal to certain segments of the population was their support of the Zapatista Rebellion in Chiapas in 1994 (Bruhn 15). This continued support for an armed guerilla group caused many middle class Mexican voters to view the PRD as a party of extreme positions that could threaten stability and tranquility if they were ever to gain power. Thus the appeal of the PRD was merely limited to peasants, the urban poor, and "socially responsible" elitist groups rather than expanding to more centrist, middle class electoral bases. The PRD, under the continued leadership of Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, had broad policy goals bud did not have coherent, particular programs in order to bring those goals and reforms about. Thus their lack of a singular agenda turned off many voters to the PRD and has hampered their efforts to organize as a stable political party. The PRD, as it was seen in the 1988 presidential elections when it had its greatest showing, was a party left of the PRI in ideology and beliefs. Following election reforms in 1977 that allowed opposition parties a greater share of congressional seats and government offices, opposition parties such as the PAN and the PRD could stand a real chance of gaining some voice in government. The PRD touched a cord with disaffected voters. The PRD, or the Democratic National Front as it was called in 1988, stood for a program of continued state intervention in the economy, government protection of Mexican markets, as well as a program of complete democratization of the government and state (Bruhn 129). While these goals and programs were vague in description, the general ideas appealed to a wide spectrum of voters who supported Cardenas in his candidacy for the Presidency in 1988 (Bruhn, 130). The PRD would become the stalwart of the leftist opposition that served as a viable alternative to the PRI. More accurately, the PRD is now the main party of left of center voters who no longer ascribe to PRI loyalty and continued dominance. The nations of the world are continuing on a path towards greater economic integration and democratization. The Mexican nation is coming to the forefront of this movement. With increased economic integration and political awareness of the Mexican people opposition parties such as the PRD stand a real chance of gaining power and ending the near seventy year hegemonic rule of the PRI. Once one of these opposition parties is able to gain power, more specifically the Presidency, and the PRI peacefully abides by these results, will Mexico have finally have arrived as a free, democratic state. Until then, the opposition parties will continue to gain a greater voice in government and the PRI will most probably continue to lose its stranglehold on power. Democracy will come to Mexico as freedom will eventually come to the rest of the world. For this reason, the Mexican people have good reason to be optimistic about the future of their nation and society. Further reforms by the government allowing greater access to media resources, increased coverage of opposition candidates, and the first time use of public relations consultants by the PRD have all increased its presence in the political mindsets of Mexican voters. With the continuing march towards democracy, caused in part by renewed international scrutiny of Mexican politics by newly concerned nations whose economies are now entwined with Mexico's and organization of opposition groups and civic
Some common words found in the essay are:
President PRI, PRI PRI, English PRD, National Front, Carlos Salinas, Party Russia, , Lazaro Cardenas, Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, Socialist Party, opposition parties, democracy mexico, intervention economy, middle class, mexican people, leftist opposition, economic integration, pri dominance, political party, electoral fraud, opposition parties pan, stand real chance, continuing march towards, real chance gaining, stable political party,
Approximate Word count = 2509
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
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