CULTURE AND DEMOCRACY: SYMBOLIC POLITICS IN MEXICO by DWIGHT WILSON (Under the Direction of Howard Wiarda) ABSTRACT Mexico has made a transition to democracy, but appears not have reached the stage of consolidated liberal democracy. Given the inadequacy of institutional views of explaining consolidation, theorists have turned to the liberalization of culture as an essential element in explaining the sources of democratic consolidation. This study adopts a political cultural theory of democratic consolidation, and conceives of political culture as symbolic narratives. Symbolic narratives are stories about the nation and the goals of politics that motivate and give meaning to political behavior. The study argues that a liberal symbolic narrative is a necessary component of a consolidated democracy. By viewing the evolution of symbolic narratives since the independence period of Mexico, the study reveals the transformational goals of Mexican political programs; politics has for long been oriented toward reordering society from the ground up. These aims conflict with the more limited aims of liberal democracies, and Mexico's democratic consolidation will follow the liberalization of the predominant symbolic narrative of the nation. INDEX WORDS: Democracy, Democratic Consolidation, Mexico, Political Culture, Symbolic Politics CULTURE AND DEMOCRACY: SYMBOLIC POLITICS IN MEXICO by DWIGHT WILSON B.A., Georgia State University, 2000 M.A., University of Georgia, 2004 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2010 © 2010 Dwight Wilson All Rights Reserved CULTURE AND DEMOCRACY: SYMBOLIC POLITICS IN MEXICO by DWIGHT WILSON Major Professor: Howard Wiarda Committee: Han Park Daniel Kapust Sherry Lowrance Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia December 2010 DEDICATION To Big Jim, who was bigger than life. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my appreciation to my major professor, Dr. Howard Wiarda for his unequaled guidance and support, and to the rest of my committee, Dr. Han Park, Dr. Daniel Kapust, and Dr. Sherry Lawrence, without whose input this dissertation would not have been possible. I must also give thanks to my wife, Gabriela, for her unending patience and support. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................................v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION: DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION IN MEXICO.............................1 Purpose of the Study...............................................................................................2 Thesis of the Study..................................................................................................3 The Transition.........................................................................................................4 Democratic Consolidation?.....................................................................................8 Organization of the Study.....................................................................................19 2 CULTURE AND POLITICS......................................................................................21 Theories of Culture................................................................................................21 Behavioralism and Positivism...............................................................................23 Problems of Positivism.........................................................................................27 The Interpretivist Turn..........................................................................................32 Culture as Cause and Consequence......................................................................36 3 THE HISTORICAL MATRIX AND SYMBOLIC NARRATIVES.........................44 Latin American Context in Brief..........................................................................44 The Mexican Context in Brief..............................................................................48 Symbolic Narratives and the Construction of Meaning........................................53 A Family of Liberal Narratives..............................................................................55 vi Symbolic Politics in Mexico.................................................................................57 Looking Ahead......................................................................................................60 Methodological Questions....................................................................................61 4 ESTABLISHING THE LIBERAL NARRATIVE.....................................................65 The Colony............................................................................................................67 Independence........................................................................................................69 The Republic..........................................................................................................71 The Liberals and Conservatives............................................................................72 Convergences........................................................................................................76 Factions.................................................................................................................78 The Liberal Reform and French Intervention.......................................................83 The Republic Restored..........................................................................................86 The “Symbolic Engineering of the Liberal Nation...............................................90 A Member of the Liberal Family?........................................................................93 5 FROM SCIENTIFIC ADMINISTRATION TO REVOLUTION..............................95 The Porfiriato........................................................................................................96 Positivism............................................................................................................101 Porfirian Mythology............................................................................................105 Opposition...........................................................................................................108 The End of Porfirism and the Beginning of Revolution.....................................110 The Constitution..................................................................................................114 Engineering the Revolutionary Symbolism........................................................116 A Member of the Liberal Family?......................................................................119 vii Porfirism and Revolution: A Parade of Symbols................................................121 6 THE REVOLUTIONARY REGIME.......................................................................123 The Party: Foundation of the Regime.................................................................125 Incorporating the Masses....................................................................................128 The New Order...................................................................................................131 Radical Anticlericalism.......................................................................................134 The Institutionalization of the Revolution..........................................................137 The Mexican Miracle..........................................................................................142 Opposition to the PRI: Counternarratives...........................................................145 The PAN.............................................................................................................147 The Crisis and Reform........................................................................................150 The Anti-Neoliberal Reaction.............................................................................153 The PRI's Symbolic Narrative............................................................................154 A Member of the Liberal Family?......................................................................156 7 FROM PERFECT DICTATORSHIP TO IMPERFECT DEMOCRACY...............159 The Transformation............................................................................................160 The Fox Phenomenon.........................................................................................161 The PAN in Power..............................................................................................163 The Challenge From the Old Order....................................................................170 Ambivalence of the New Democracy.................................................................175 8 TWO HUNDRED YEARS OF SYMBOLIC ENGINEERING...............................179 The New Conflict.................................................................................................181 A Member of the Liberal Family?.......................................................................187 viii Implications and Further Research......................................................................189 REFERENCES............................................................................................................................192