Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-l82ql Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-26T23:14:57.001Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Mexico's Party Deputy System: The First Decade

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Donald J. Mabry*
Affiliation:
Department of History, Mississippi State University, State College, Mississippi

Extract

Mexico's party deputy system, created in 1963, has just completed its first decade of existence; enough experience has now been accumulated to evaluate its impact on the Mexican political system. This essay will examine the system in its following aspects: origins, implementation, amendments, beneficiaries, and effects.

Since 1929 the government party (currently called PRI, Partido Revolucionario Institucional, but having existed under other names) has so completely dominated the electoral scene at the national level that only in the Chamber of Deputies has the opposition been able to take some electoral posts. Even in the Chamber, opposition groups have only been able to acquire a few seats by winning a majority of votes (Table l). PRI's success has been attributed to its superior organization, appeal, finances, and relationship with the government. The high point of majority-elected opposition in the Chamber came in 1952 when nine opposition deputies represented 5.5 percent of the Chamber. Between 1946 and 1964, no opposition party, of whatever ideological stripe, achieved more than six seats in the Chamber (3.7 percent).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 1974

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ames, B. (1970) “Bases of support for Mexico's dominant party.” Amer. Pol. Sci. Rev. 64 (March): 153167.Google Scholar
Bezdek, R. R. (1973) “Electoral oppositions in Mexico: emergence, suppression, and impact on political processes.” Ph.D. dissertation. Ohio State University.Google Scholar
Brandenburg, F. R. (1964) The Making of Modern Mexico. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Fuentes Diaz, V. (1969) Los partidos políticos en México. Mexico: Editorial Altiplano.Google Scholar
Galvan Haro, T. and de Cimet, S. Ralsky (1970) “Partido Popular Socialista,” pp. 239308 in A. Delhumeau (ed.) Mexico: realidad política de sus partidos. Mexico: Instituto Mexicano de Estudios Políticos.Google Scholar
Gonzalez Casanova, P. (1970) Democracy in Mexico. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Hansen, R. D. (1971) The Politics of Mexican Development. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins.Google Scholar
Johnson, K. F. (1971) Mexican Democracy: A Critical View. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.Google Scholar
Latin American Report (1973) Volume 1 (June/July): 7.Google Scholar
Mabry, D. J. (1973) Mexico's Acción Nacional: A Catholic Alternative to Revolution. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse Univ. Press.Google Scholar
McDonald, R. (1971) Party Systems and Elections in Latin America. Chicago: Markham.Google Scholar
Needler, M. C. (1971) Politics and Society in Mexico. Albuquerque: Univ. of New Mexico Press.Google Scholar
Tiempo (1973) July 16: 6.Google Scholar
Walton, J. and Sween, J. A. (1971) “Urbanization, industrialization and voting in Mexico: a longitudinal analysis of official and opposition support.” Social Sci. Q. (December): 721-745.Google Scholar