Stability and Ideological Consciousness in Mexican Public Opinion

Abstract

The use of a left-right continuum simplifies our understanding of complex political competition, and it also shows that self-identification with ideological labels tends to connect a significant number of voters with parties in Mexico. This article develops an analysis of ideological stability and consistency among the Mexican electorate and a discussion about the use of ideology in understanding some aspects of public opinion in the country.

Based on panel survey data conducted during the 2000 presidential campaigns I test individual-level ideological stability and consistency and evaluate their effect on opinions about energy reform. As some of the main findings, I show that about a fifth of the Mexican electorate tends to be stable in ideological orientations in three rounds of interviews and such stability makes ideological consistency more remarkable. Because those two aspects shape public opinion and influence party support. I also discuss the implications of these findings for the 2006 presidential race.