The Mexican Transition: Politics, Culture, and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century (Iberian and Latin American Studies)

This book is a collection of essays on the Mexican transition to democracy that offers reflections on different aspects of civic culture, the political process, electoral struggles, and critical junctures. They were written at different points in time and even though they have been corrected and adapted, they have kept the tension and fervour with which they were originally created. They provide the reader with a vision of what goes on behind those horrifying images that depict Mexico as a country plagued by narcotrafficking groups and subjected to unbridled homicidal violence. These images hide the complex political reality of the country and the accidents and shocks democracy has suffered. Annotation Until the year 2000, when Vicente Fox of the National Action Party won the presidential election, Mexico was ruled by one of the most enduring autocratic regimes of the twentieth century, the Institutional Revolutionary Party. Here Roger Bartra chronicles the key moments that led to the Mexican transition to democracy and reflects on the different aspects of civic culture, the political process, and electoral struggles that played a role in that journey. Bartra also explores the setbacks that have plagued the nation since Foxs election, including the war on drug trafficking, and offers some insightful conclusions about Mexicos political future A political and cultural study of the Mexican transition to democracy.