| This dissertation compares the historical processes of democratization in Spain and Mexico. An important assumption and strategy of inquiry of my research is that building a democratic polity requires the development of political parties, which are able to fulfill various tasks necessary in a democracy. Based on that assumption I develop four central arguments:; First, that democratization in Spain and Mexico is the historical outcome of multiple struggles and contentious politics. In my cases, the actors of the struggle have been workers, peasants and student movements, that confronted the authoritarian state and that helped in the formation of political parties of the opposition. They pushed, cajoled and even forced the governing elites into the democratic game of elections.; Second, that at the beginning, opposition parties were small groups of deeply committed, ideological individuals. These small groups can remain latent for a long time before becoming real alternatives to the authoritarian regime. There are resource building and repertoire building processes, that are developed throughout the struggle for democracy. I show these processes by reconstructing the history of the social movements and the political parties in my two cases.; Third, that the level of institutionalization of the authoritarian regime is a key variable to explain the pace of the transition, and the different tasks the parties have to fulfill in each case: while the Mexican authoritarian regime was highly institutionalized around the PRI, the Spanish authoritarian regime lacked such institutionalization, making it relatively easier to dismantle the regime, once the dictator was dead.; Finally, following a political process model, I argue that in the recent democratization processes of Spain and Mexico, the center-right parties tend to win the founding elections not only because the experience of authoritarianism changed the values of the population, making important sector of the voting public more moderate, but because the center right parties tend to have more resources than the center left ones i.e., it is not only a matter of values, but of mobilization of resources. |
