Political Parties in Mexico
A Long Awaited Rule:
Political Parties in Mexico and the Downfall of the PRI On July 2, 2000, Mexico held elections for presidential office. By July 3, 2000, the Industrial Revolutionary Party (PRI), the party that had ruled Mexico for over seventy years admitted defeat and conceded their power to the National Action Party, also known as the PAN.1 Although the PAN had existed since 1939, their capacity to win elections was little due to the popularity of the PRI, their grip on power, and the dominant party system in the country. However, as time progressed, the PRI began to loosen their hold on power and the PAN became a contender allowing them to gain gradual power until finally, in the year 2000, they beat the PRI’s candidate for president, longtime politician Francisco Labastida.2 The results from the presidential elections of 2000 were a product of years of changing times in Mexico. The PRI was the first political party and because they were able to gain legitimacy quickly, became a hard force to take down. Beginning with the Tlatelolco Plaza Massacre in 1968 and continuing into the late 1990s, it took numerous events and changing circumstances for opposition parties to have a chance in elections until finally, in 2000, the PRI lost their hold on the executive and the Mexican one-party state ended.
Although the modern Mexico period began in the early 1800s with Mexico’s independence from Spain, actual political parties did not emerge in the Mexican state until over one hundred years later after the Mexican Revolution. Instead, Mexico was ruled by a set of ideologies for their first hundred years of existence until real political parties emerged after the revolution. These first ideologies were that of Mexican Conservatism and Liberalism. Conservatives were generally pro-Church, more prone to a strong central government, and wanted little change from Spanish colonial days. Liberals disfavored the Church, saw the benefits of republicanism, and believed
Political Parties in Mexico and the Downfall of the PRI On July 2, 2000, Mexico held elections for presidential office. By July 3, 2000, the Industrial Revolutionary Party (PRI), the party that had ruled Mexico for over seventy years admitted defeat and conceded their power to the National Action Party, also known as the PAN.1 Although the PAN had existed since 1939, their capacity to win elections was little due to the popularity of the PRI, their grip on power, and the dominant party system in the country. However, as time progressed, the PRI began to loosen their hold on power and the PAN became a contender allowing them to gain gradual power until finally, in the year 2000, they beat the PRI’s candidate for president, longtime politician Francisco Labastida.2 The results from the presidential elections of 2000 were a product of years of changing times in Mexico. The PRI was the first political party and because they were able to gain legitimacy quickly, became a hard force to take down. Beginning with the Tlatelolco Plaza Massacre in 1968 and continuing into the late 1990s, it took numerous events and changing circumstances for opposition parties to have a chance in elections until finally, in 2000, the PRI lost their hold on the executive and the Mexican one-party state ended.
Although the modern Mexico period began in the early 1800s with Mexico’s independence from Spain, actual political parties did not emerge in the Mexican state until over one hundred years later after the Mexican Revolution. Instead, Mexico was ruled by a set of ideologies for their first hundred years of existence until real political parties emerged after the revolution. These first ideologies were that of Mexican Conservatism and Liberalism. Conservatives were generally pro-Church, more prone to a strong central government, and wanted little change from Spanish colonial days. Liberals disfavored the Church, saw the benefits of republicanism, and believed