Transition lost: the political culture and mass media in Mexico

Abstract

The richest tension in historical writing is that which exists between official national history and critical history. While many elements of recent history have not arrived at the level of an official account, there are already “preferred” versions which for some sectors function as official or to-be-accepted. The history of the so-called “democratic transition” in Mexico belongs to this category. Supposedly, the transition in electoral democracy is complete, and what remains are problems in crafting institutional majorities for governability.

The hypothesis of this article is that the promises of the transition are stuck, including transformation of democratic institutions and opening of market structures. Our argument is that the principal problem is not the system of political parties (in all its complexity and confusion), but the system of electronic media (in all its monopoly and mediocrity). A maturing political culture cannot flourish in a closed, anti-pluralist media environment. Opening the electronic media market can give a push to a true electoral reform process and stimulate the opening of other closed markets. At the end of the day, the IFE is being punished for the lack of progress in the political and economic transition in Mexico.

This lack of progress is like a great stone, and the IFE is Sisyphus, condemned to push the rock up a hill each day, to have it roll back down each evening. It would be good to liberate the IFE so that the institution can concentrate on its core tasks of organizing the elections, training poll workers (no matter what their formal education level), counting well, and providing a coherent defense for the public financing of the political process.