Mexico: Fifteen Years of Minority Governments (1997-2012)

Abstract

As a contribution to the debate of the impact of minority governments on legislative production and Executive Legislative relations, this paper analyses the case of the last five Mexican legislatures (1997-2012) in which the president’s party has been unable to form a majority in Congress. Drawing on the literature and case studies of divided governments in the United States and Latin America, it analyses the effect of formal institutions (presidential and congressional powers), the party system, and the actual distribution of power on the lawmaking process and its outcomes. Using data from 1997-2012 the paper provides evidence to support the thesis that paralysis and the systematic obstruction of the presidential agenda are not inevitable results of minority governments. Nonetheless, it explains and accounts for the profound changes in the legislative process that have come about as a consequence of the expansion of plurality in Congress. The paper concludes proposing new ways of measuring and analysing relevant bills as well as exploring alternative explanations for the failure in passage of the so called structural reforms.