Chronicle of a death foretold: the decline of the party-state in Oaxaca

Abstract

The popular movement that emerged on June the 14th, 2006, in the city of Oaxaca de Juárez and the opposition’s victor y on the elections held on July the 2nd of the same year are connected. Both processes reflect the terminal crisis of a political regime based on traditional clientele and authoritarian relationships as forms of domination. However, the electoral shift that favored the opposition during the last presidential and legislative elections isn’t entirely new. After a detailed analysis of the evolution of the electoral results in the 570 districts of Oaxaca, one can conclude that the PRI (Institutional Revolutionar y Party) has been loosing votes since the end of the eighties decade . The opposition (PRD, PAN, and recently the Convergencia) have gained ground during the last 20 years. Oaxaca has gradually ceased to be a stronghold of the PRI.