Abstract
This chapter argues that democratization in Mexico occurred principally on account of internal political forces. This is to say, democratization in Mexico needs to be understood as a process of contention and mobilization in which the opposition, political parties, and other struggles have played a key role. While “contention” stresses the importance of political parties that pushed the governing elites into a democratic electoral process , “mobilization” emphasizes the struggles of workers, peasants , and student movements that confronted the authoritarian state, leading up to the formation of opposition political parties. I suggest that the democratization of Mexico is usefully approached as a political process enabled by opportunities that materialize in the competition that marks elections. Here, electoral results maintain or change political cleavages . Based on the work of V. O. Key and Gerald Pomper, the chapter develops a typology to classify presidential elections in Mexico.
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Ortega Ortiz, R.Y. (2017). The Democratization Process in Mexico and Presidential Elections. Toward a Typology of Presidential Elections. In: Presidential Elections in Mexico. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56032-8_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56032-8_2
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