Abstract

CASAR, Ma. Amparo. Governments without Majority in Mexico: 1997-2006. Polít. gob [online]. 2008, vol.15, n.2, pp.221-270. ISSN 1665-2037.

As a contribution to the study of Congress in Mexico, this article focuses on the legislative task from four indicators: the origin of the initiatives, their adoption rate, the voting patterns on the Chamber of Deputies floor and the coalitions formed in the initiatives adoption process. The period under review covers the three experiences of divided government without a majority, ranging from September 1997 to August 2006 (LVII, LVIII and LIX legislatures), and presents the results of the investigation initiated in 1997 when it was introduced, for the first time in Mexico, the phenomenon of divided government. Based on the construction and analysis of a database of all roll-call votes presented in the Chamber of Deputies floor (1997-2006), the article shows that the perception of an unproductive and systematic opposition to the Executive initiatives in Congress has no empirical basis. It thus refutes the thesis that the Congress plurality has resulted in the inability to reach agreements and that the absence of majorities for the president party has led to deadlock or to legislative ungovernability.

Keywords : divided government; coalitions; party discipline.

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