The ‘Brazilianization’ of Mexico?
1988; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 23; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1111/j.1477-7053.1988.tb00087.x
ISSN1477-7053
Autores Tópico(s)Political and Social Dynamics in Chile and Latin America
ResumoIN THE EARY 1970s, AT THE HEIGHT OF BRAZIL'S ‘ECONOMIC miracle’, the possibility was mooted by some within the regime of an evolution towards a stable authoritarian system based upon a permanent ruling party capable of governing by consent. The most immediate model in the Latin American context was the ruling Mexican Partido Revolucionario Institucional (Institutionalized Revolutionary Party); hence the term ‘Mexicanization’ to express this concept. However, objective assessments of the prospects were somewhat sceptical. In 1974 President Geisel launched a process of ‘liberalization’, hoping to gain enough popular support through the ruling party, ARENA, to allow a measured relaxation of the repressive controls established after 1964. The process of change thus inaugurated led in little over a decade to the collapse of the regime, and the installation of a civilian, José Sarney, as president in March 1985. As I shall argue below, every move the regime made in its attempt to build a majority party backfired, and, ironically, it was the opposition MDB, whose development was blocked and harassed at every turn, which came nearest to emulating the PRI as a genuinely popular party with cross-class support, a broad national base, and a fund of legitimacy, deriving from its opposition role.
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