Popular protest and policy reform in Mexico, 1946--1994: The dynamics of state and society in an authoritarian regime

This is a study about institutional structures, social movements and policy change in the Mexican authoritarian regime. It is commonly believed that the Mexican authoritarian regime is the corollary of a passive society, and that the decision-making process is free from societal pressures. I hypothesized that the Mexican society is fairly active and that the authoritarian regime hinders society from participating in decision-making. As a closed political system, the authoritarian regime lacks the appropriate institutional channels to convey political participation. It is the absence of adequate structures for political participation what pushes mobilized groups to rely on unconventional strategies to get solution to their demands. It is also the closed structure of the regime what explains that the government uses repressive strategies to face protesting groups, and at the same time enacts policy changes to assuage social unrest and reinforce the closed structure of the political system.; Two case studies and the examination of 207 cases of social protest in Mexico between 1946 and 1994 were designed to test this hypothesis. This study demonstrates that the institutional structure of the regime pushes challenging groups to perform direct actions, such as demonstrations, road blockades, and armed actions to pursue their goals. The narrowness of conventional politics stresses the need for contentious means of struggle. Complementarily, the government heavily relies on negligence, threats, discrediting and repression to prevent challenging groups from consolidating as legitimate representatives of their constituencies, and full-fledged members of the political system. The paradox is that despite its repressive response, the government enacts policy changes to assuage social protest and to reinforce the authoritarian structure of the political system. In conclusion, the study demonstrates that it is the closed nature of the authoritarian regime, which prevents challenging groups from participating in the decision-making process, creating the misleading image of a passive society and a policy-making process free from societal pressures.; The study demonstrates that for a better understanding of the Mexican authoritarian regime it is necessary to analyze the interaction between institutional structures, social mobilization and government responses.