Savage Democracy: Institutional Change and Party Development in Mexico

ISBN: 027103422X

Author: Wuhs, Steven T.

Condition: New

Mexico finally shed its authoritarian past with the victory of the PAN candidate Vicente Fox in the 2000 election. But the consolidation and growth of democracy in Mexico have been complicated by the institutional residues of the past. Steven Wuhss investigation of the PAN and PRD begins by depicting how the PRI functioned and then, in successive chapters, compares how PAN and PRD leaders reacted to the PRIs institutions in choosing rules for selecting candidates to run for office, organizing their partys bureaucracy, and linking to groups in civil society. What he shows is that savage democracy has undermined the nomination of electable candidates, fostered intense intraparty factions and fights, and interfered with the development of party organizations capable of mounting effective campaigns.