Honors Theses
Date of Award
2007
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Croft Institute for International Studies
First Advisor
Leslie Schwindt-Bayer
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
Mexico is country which has successfully transitioned from authoritarianism to a functioning young democracy. Yet the democratic stability of Mexico is already at risk due to a trend of declining voter turnout. Despite the most competitive elections in modem Mexican history, voter participation in 2006 was only 58%, down nearly 20% from 1994. Though a variety of reasons contribute to decreasing voter turnout, the predominant factor in Mexico is disillusionment, which manifests itself in the Mexican population because of four principal causes: widespread cormption, government inefficiency, election fraud, and a lack of change in the daily lives of the people. To support my argument, I use data from Transparency International,the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), the National Institute for Geographic and Informational Statistics (INEGI), and the World Bank. I also address alternative hypotheses, as well as compare Mexico to its Latin American neighbors. Voter turnout is a measure of how strongly citizens believe in the integrity of their government and in democracy overall. Declining voter turnout threatens the future of democracy in Mexico because decreased citizen participation reduces the legitimacy of the government. Large numbers of non-voting Mexicans indicate the populace does not approve of the government’s trajectory and/or performance. Because universal participation is at the heart of a democracy, situations where large numbers of citizens abstain from voting pose a danger to the continuance of democracy. Mexico must address the main causes of voter abstention and work to reverse the trend of declining voter turnout in order to preserve its newly created democracy.
Recommended Citation
Harrington, Elizabeth Thea, "To Vote or Not to Vote: The New Challenge to Mexican Democracy" (2007). Honors Theses. 2344.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/2344
Accessibility Status
Searchable text