Abstract

SERRA, Gilles. Buying off, Coercing and Misinforming Voters: Long-lasting Problems of Mexican Democracy. Polít. gob [online]. 2016, vol.23, n.2, pp.409-435. ISSN 1665-2037.

This essay seeks to show that elections in Mexico still display important flaws. A typical electoral problem takes the following general form: a political agent diverts his or her resources unduly, using them to somehow manipulate voters before an election. I focus on three particular manifestations of this problem: a) some type of payment is offered to voters, b) voters are somehow threatened, c) the information provided to voters is distorted. The goal is to document the prevalence of these three phenomena and discuss their implications for Mexican democracy. I rely on a revision of the modern academic literature: a series of articles and books written by academics provide insights about the importance of these problems and their solutions. Their empirical results prove that Mexico has not been able to consolidate into a liberal democracy. Two types of solutions can be drawn from the lessons and thoughts of these academics: respecting formal institutions more at the macro level, and gaining more consciousness of democratic values at the micro level. This may help Mexico turn into a liberal democracy.

Keywords : clientelism; vote buying; media; democracy; elections; corruption; Mexico.

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