The Oxford Handbook of Mexican Politics

Since achieving independence from Spain and establishing its first constitution in 1824, Mexico has experienced numerous political upheavals. The country's long and turbulent journey toward democratic, representative government has been marked by a tension between centralized, autocratic governments (historically depicted as a legacy of colonial institutions) and federalist structures. The years since Mexico's independence have seen a major violent social revolution, years of authoritarian rule, and, finally, in the past two decades, the introduction of a fair and democratic electoral process.

Over the course of the thirty-one essays in The Oxford Handbook of Mexican Politics some of the world's leading scholars of Mexico will provide a comprehensive view of the remarkable transformation of the nation's political system to a democratic model. In turn they will assess the most influential institutions, actors, policies and issues in its current evolution toward democratic consolidation. Following an introduction by Roderic Ai Camp, sections will explore the current state of Mexico's political development; transformative political institutions; the changing roles of the military, big business, organized labor, and the national political elite; new political actors including the news media, indigenous movements, women, and drug traffickers; electoral politics; demographics and political attitudes; and policy issues.

Roderic Ai Camp is Philip M. McKenna Professor of the Pacific Rim at Claremont McKenna College and serves on the Advisory Board of the Mexican Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in the Smithsonian Institution. His books include Politics in Mexico (OUP 2006) and The Metamorphosis of Leadership in a Democratic Mexico (OUP 2010).

About the Contributors

Part I: Introduction
1. The Democratic Transformation of Mexican Politics, Roderic Ai Camp

Part II: Political Development
2. Democracy from Independence to Revolution, Jaime E. Rodríguez O.
3. Mexican Elections, 1910 to 1994: Voters, Violence and Veto Power, Paul Gillingham
4. Mexican Democracy in Comparative Perspective, Peter H. Smith

Part III: Institutions as Transformational Actors
5. Municipalities and Policy Making, Andrew Selee
6. Invigorating Federalism: the Emergence of Governors and State Legislatures as Powerbrokers and Policy Innovators, Caroline C. Beer
7. The Dinosaur that Evolved: Changes to the PRI's Gubernatorial Candidate Selection, 1980 to 2009, Joy Langston
8. Holding Power: The PAN as Mexico's Incumbent Party, Steven T. Wuhs
9. PRD and the Left, Kathleen Bruhn
10. Ulysses, the Sirens, and Mexico's Judiciary: Increasing Pre-Commitments to Strengthen the Rule of Law, Todd A. Eisenstadt and Jennifer Yelle
11. The Fall of the Dominant Presidency: Lawmaking under Divided Government in Mexico, Benito Nacif

Part IV: Changing Roles
12. Civil-Military Relations in Mexico: The Unfinished Transition, Jordi Diez
13. Mexican Political Elites in a Democratic Setting, Roderic Ai Camp
14. Big Business, Democracy, and the Politics of Competition, Strom Thacker
15. Organized Labor and Politics in Mexico, Graciela Bensusán and Kevin J. Middlebrook

Part V: New Actors
16. Democracy in the Newsroom: The Evolution of Journalism and the News Media, Sallie Hughes
17. Social and Indigenous Movements in Mexico's Transition to Democracy, Shannan Mattiace
18. Human Rights and NGO's, Mariclaire Acosta
19. Women and Grassroots Politics, Victoria E. Rodríguez
20. Drug-Traffickers as Political Actors in Mexico's Nascent Democracy, John Bailey

Part VI: Electoral Politics and the Changing Political Landscape
21. Changing Dimensions of National Political Elections, James A. McCann
22. Mexico's Campaigns and the Benchmark Elections of 2000 and 2006, Jorge I. Domínguez
23. The Return of "the Local" to Mexican Politics, Jonathan Hiskey

Part VII: Demographics and Political Attitudes
24. Who is the Mexican Voter?, Alejandro Moreno
25. Polling and Pollsters as Agents of Change: An Historical Account of Public Opinion Research in Mexico from 1938 to 2010, Pablo Páras and Miguel Basáñez
26. Regionalism in Mexican Electoral Politics, Joseph L. Klesner

Part VIII: Politics and Policy Issues
27. United States-Mexican Relations and Mexican Domestic Politics, Pamela K. Starr
28. Domestic and National Security Challenges in Mexico, David A. Shirk
29. Mexico-US Migration Policy: Historical Review and Contemporary Challenges, Marc R. Rosenblum
30. Economy as Grand-Guignol: The Post-reform Era in Mexico, William P. Glade
31. The Path of Economic Liberalism, Mark Eric Williams