The End of the PRI in Mexico?
| Date | 01 September 1998 |
| Published date | 01 September 1998 |
| DOI | 10.1111/1467-9256.00074 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
The end of the PRI inThe end of the PRI in
Mexico?Mexico?
Darren Wallis
1
The article examines the outcome of the 1997
mid-term elections in Mexico and the new
political dynamics thereby generated, and
asks to what extent they portend the end of
the longest-surviving single-party government
in the world, the Institutional Revolutionary
Party (PRI). Explanations for the PRI's dra-
matic decline in 1997 are explored, and an
assessment is made of the strength of the
principal opposition parties.
Introduction
Mexico has the longest surviving single-party
regime in the world; a model of pragmatic,
semi-authoritarian government, it has often
been the envy of communist parties and mili-
tary dictatorships alike. Since its foundation in
1929, the ruling Institutional Revolutionary
Party (PRI) has won every presidential elec-
tion, monopolised the Chamber of Deputies
and the Senate, won virtually every governor-
ship of its 31 states, and controlled the vast
majority of local governments. The PRI's suc-
cess has been built upon political pragma-
tism, the `political assassination' of the
absolute ruler every six years through the no-
reelection principle, state corporatism and,
where necessary, fraud, intimidation and cor-
ruption ± or `electoral alchemy' as Mexican
euphemism has it.
The future of the PRI, however, is now in
serious doubt, following the elections of July
6th, 1997. These mid-term elections saw the
PRI's majority in Congress disappear, the loss
of two key governorships, and the virtual
elimination of the party's support in the capi-
tal, Mexico City. In the post-electoral scenario,
the PRI has seemed incapable of dealing with
a newly vibrant and self-con®dent opposition
majority in the Chamber of Deputies, and has
had diculty in maintaining unity amongst its
senators. Little wonder, then, that most obser-
vers and commentators are pronouncing the
death of the Mexican political system and
eagerly anticipating the presidential and con-
gressional elections of the year 2000 (Chave s,
1997; GarcõÂa GarceÂs, 1997; Krauze, 1997).
The 1997 elections
Table 1 summarises the outcomes of recent
elections and demonstrates the spectacular
decline of the PRI in 1997. For the ®rst time,
the PRI has lost its majority in the Chamber
of Deputies, winning only 239 of 500 seats;
2
in addition, governorships in the states of
Nuevo Leo
Ân and Quere taro were lost for the
®rst time. Grabbing most of the national and
international headlines, however, was the vic-
tory of the left-wing Party of the Democratic
Revolution (PRD) in Mexico City. In the ®rst-
ever election for the position of head of gov-
ernment of the Federal District,
3
the PRD's
candidate, Cuauhte moc Ca rdenas, won with
48.6% of the vote, against 25.9% for the PRI
Politics (1998) 18(3) pp. 165±171
#Political Studies Association 1998. Published by Blackwell Publishers, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK
and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. 165
Darren Wallis, Nottingham Trent University
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