Roderic Camp, Philip M. McKenna Professor of the Pacific Rim, writes about Mexico's bumpy path democracy in the Oxford University Press blog.
In 2000, the country shifted from a semi-authoritarian single-party structure to a competitive, three-party system, and since then has struggled to put together an effective governing coalition. After current President Enrique Peña Nieto was elected in 2012, he and the leaders of the three political parties signed the Pact for Mexico, "an extraordinary attempt to decrease partisanship in the legislative branch, and to create an imaginative yet practical collaboration among the three major political organizations," Prof. Camp writes. "It allowed all parties simultaneously to take credit for the policies passed by the Chamber of Deputies and implemented by the federal government.
"Given this extraordinary achievement, many observers believed early on that Peña Nieto might be able to create the necessary changes to push Mexico further on its path toward a consolidated democracy: that is, a democratic political model that, among other characteristics—including competitive elections and turnover among the incumbent political parties—would strengthen transparency, accountability, and the rule of law."
Read Prof. Camp's full article on the Oxford University Press blog.