Mexico: A Wasted Transition

Abstract

This article analyses the period spanning from the year 2000 to the first two years of the presidential term of Enrique Peña Nieto in three areas —economy, security and democracy—, in order to define whether Mexico is going through a process of democratization or, on the contrary, de-democratization. Tilly believes that democracy is defined not only by the extent to which a political system is open to the demands of its population, but also by the capacity of the State to implement its decisions. What interests us is whether a country advances in the direction of democratization or, on the contrary, if it de-democratizes. We discuss the idea that during the last 14 years Mexico has gone through a process of de-democratization.