This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. THE CHANGING PARTY SYSTEM IN MEXICO (1970-1988) Ana Victoria Gaxiola Lazcano Ph. D. in Sociology The University of Edinburgh 2020 Lay Summary of Thesis The lay summary is a brief summary intended to facilitate knowledge transfer and enhance accessibility, therefore the language used should be non-technical and suitable for a general audience. Guidance on the lay summary in a thesis. (See the Degree Regulations and Programmes of Study, General Postgraduate Degree Programme Regulations. These regulations are available via: www.drps.ed.ac.uk.) Name of student: Ana Victoria Gaxiola Lazcano UUN S1673765 University email: [email protected] Degree sought: Ph. D. in Sociology No. of words in the 60784 main text of thesis: Title of thesis: The Changing Party System in Mexico (1970-1988) Insert the lay summary text here - the space will expand as you type. A party system is a relationship between political parties defined by electoral competition. In Mexico, one party won the elections and ruled the country for seventy years (1929-2000). This party’s name changed, but it represented the same political group, which emerged after the Mexican Revolution of 1910, to finally be known as the Party of the Institutionalized Revolution (PRI), which holds until the present day. Although it was not the only political party, the opposition did not have the chance to win elections because the rules and practices of the political system favoured the party of the revolution. However, during the late 1970s and 1980s, those other parties began to win elections. This thesis explains why and how that happened and assumes this change resulted from social and economic transformations and the opposition’s development as a political force. In terms of the economic change, during that same period, Mexico’s economy started its integration into the global markets, which divided the national politicians between those who favoured that integration and those who championed a closed economy. This division enabled the opposition’s development because it allowed them to create a political alternative to the PRI and mobilize the citizens to vote for them. The opposition’s strengthening was also a consequence of a series of reforms that aimed to adapt the political system to the social changes that affected Mexico between the 1940s and the 1960s, like the country’s population growth. Those reforms opened up the political system for the opposition, which gave them more opportunities to challenge the PRI and attract more supporters, as it happened with the right-wing National Action Party (PAN). Those reforms also enabled the formation of a left-wing alternative through the coalition of various left-wing parties, which eventually resulted in the creation of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) in 1988. The PAN’s strengthening and the PRD’s emergence meant the end of the PRI’s undisputable electoral triumphs and led to a new relationship between the political parties characterized by more even electoral competition. The Mexican case illustrates the relevance of the political parties in providing a political expression to the differences that divide society because they translate those divisions into actions that affect society’s organization and its relationship with the state through laws, decrees, and other public actions. In a few words, this thesis analyses how significant economic and social changes can cause big political transformations. Abstract of Thesis Name of student: Ana Victoria Gaxiola Lazcano UUN S1673765 University email: [email protected] Degree sought: Ph.D. Sociology No. of words in the 60784 main text of thesis: Title of thesis: The Changing Party System in Mexico Insert the abstract text here - the space will expand as you type. This research analyses how profound economic and social transformations enable political change. It argues that those transformations lead to the renegotiation of the relationship between the state and civil society. Also, it claims that the political parties are key actors in that process because they politicize those transformations through the articulation of social cleavages, which define the political space. In concrete, this research explains how the Mexican party system changed from a hegemonic to a multiparty system between 1970 to 1988. Those changes are explained by the rupture of the political cohesion that mediated the relations of the state and civil society and the development of the opposition parties as entities capable of contesting the hegemonic party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). The fracturing of political cohesion resulted from the lack of consensus around the ’economy’s management and the opposition against the Mexican ’state’s authoritarian practices. The disagreement around the economy led to the articulation of a new social cleavage that divided the political space between neoliberals and nationalists, which enabled the flourishing of political pluralism and, consequently, the reconfiguration of the relationship between the state and civil society. The neoliberal stance was embraced by the National Action Party (PAN) and a faction of the PRI, whereas the nationalist position was championed by various left-wing parties and the Democratic current, a group within the PRI. The emergence of that cleavage gave the opposition the possibility to develop an alternative political project to the PRI, which allowed them to attract and mobilize supporters. However, as mentioned before, that was not the only element that permitted the transformation of the hegemonic party system into a multiparty system. Another essential component was the institutional changes fostered by the demographic growth, which enabled the opposition’s development as a political force. The data for this investigation were collected in diverse documentary sources, including official publications such as the Debates Chronicle of the Chamber of Deputies, and publications such as La Nacion, Punto Critico, Proceso, and El Nacional. Acknowledgments First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor, professors Jonathan Hearn and James Kennedy, for their guidance and support during this process. Although the responsibility of the content of this thesis rests upon my shoulders, it would definitely would not have been the same without their comments, corrections, and recommendations. Thanks for pushing me to think outside my box. Also, I would like to thank the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACYT) for funding this research. Without their sponsorship, it would not have been possible. Thanks to my family, particularly to my mom, Carmen, my dad, Marco, and my brother, Marco. Thanks to all my aunts for being there for me. Thanks to my cousin Luci for welcoming me to her house in Luxemburgo during my school breaks. Thanks to all of you for cheering me up and for your unconditional love. Thanks to all my friends in Mexico for staying connected despite the distance. Thanks to all the fantastic people I had the pleasure to meet in Edinburgh, who made this a great life experience, and that now I can call my friends. Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1 Thesis Overview ............................................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 1. The Thesis Backbone. Context, Theory, and Method. ............................................. 10 Literature Review ........................................................................................................................... 10 Theoretical framework ................................................................................................................... 14 The hegemonic party system ................................................................................................... 14 The redefinition of the domination rules .................................................................................. 18 The articulation of social cleavages ........................................................................................ 22 Social cleavages and electoral reform in the transformation of the hegemonic party system .......................................................................................................................................................... 26 The link between concepts ........................................................................................................... 26 The concepts and the case study .................................................................................................