Perspective Chapter: The Crisis of Democracy in Mexico – Chronicling the Dismantling of Democratic Institutions

Abstract

In recent years, Mexico has experienced significant transformations in the structure and functioning of its democratic institutions. After decades of authoritarianism, the twenty-first century illuminated the regime with an incipient democracy that was consolidated little by little. However, this process has been affected by the current regime that threatens the main institutions that support Mexican democracy. For this study, we will use a descriptive-explicative methodology by describing and contextualizing the phenomenon of democratic regression and sociopolitical changes in Mexico, seeking to explain the causal relationships and underlying dynamics between the institutional dismantling created by President AMLO’s regime and Mexico’s democratic decay that affect institutions, their functioning and the balance of powers among other aspects. The fundamental hypothesis is that for several decades, the Mexican political system was building a set of institutions that allowed an important democratic advance and that these institutions have been systematically dismantled since 2018, causing a regression of democracy in Mexico. The main indicator of this evolution is the deterioration of the institutional framework that has been violated and threatened in the last 5 years, according to the main evidence described. Finally, some observations are made to avoid further affecting the democratic advance in Mexico.