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Mexico Institute in the News: The Good, The Bad and The Absurd of the Mexico Presidential Election

Andrew Selee

This year’s presidential election will be particularly interesting because of what is at stake. Mexico’s young democracy is at an important crossroads.

Univision News, March 29, 2012

The Mexican Presidential Elections will be kicking into gear in the next few days. “So what?” you might ask.

Well, if history is any guide, the coming months will be filled with intrigue and scandal. The last election led to weeks-long protests by the losing candidate, who is running again, this time against a perfectly-coiffed ex-governor with a mysterious death in his past, and a woman who could round out the Latin American trifecta of female leaders (Brazil and Argentina being the other two countries led by women) if she were to win in Mexico.

But beyond the reality show drama, this year’s election will be particularly interesting because of what is at stake. Mexico’s young democracy is at an important crossroads.Andrew Selee, director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center, says that with the 2012 election, Mexico will be

“deciding if there are common national priorities that people, regardless of party and ideology can rally around –- or if Mexico will continue to lumber along with mediocre growth and rising crime.”

For quite some time, this country of 113 million people has seemed to be on the verge of something extraordinary. In 2000, Mexico finally shed the single party rule that had its grip on the country for more than 70 years. A new optimism took over. The new leaders would finally be able to get Mexico’s act together, by tackling corruption and working towards economic stability and day-to-day security. But more than anything, for the first time, Mexicans felt like their voices were being heard.

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About the Author

Andrew Selee

Andrew Selee

Former Executive Vice President and Senior Advisor to the Mexico Institute;
President, Migration Policy Institute
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Mexico Institute

The Mexico Institute seeks to improve understanding, communication, and cooperation between Mexico and the United States by promoting original research, encouraging public discussion, and proposing policy options for enhancing the bilateral relationship. A binational Advisory Board, chaired by Luis Téllez and Earl Anthony Wayne, oversees the work of the Mexico Institute.   Read more

Latin America Program

The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action.  Read more