Webinar — Political Parties and the Future of Democracy in Mexico

On June 6, Mexico will hold its midterm elections. A total of 21,368 elected positions will be on the ballot — including half of all governorships and, more importantly, control of the Lower House of Congress — making this the largest single-day election in Mexico’s history. The results will be decisive, not only because they will define Mexico’s political landscape through at least 2024, but also because they may ultimately determine whether President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and his political party (the National Regeneration Movement, known as MORENA), will push ahead with a nationalist, populist and increasingly authoritarian agenda — or whether the opposition will be able to hold the president’s power in check and protect both Mexico’s political and economic institutions and its broad partnership with the United States.

At this half-day webinar, experts presented and discussed the findings of a yearlong research project on the state of Mexico’s political parties in light of the 2021 midterm elections and the critical role they play in the future of Mexico’s democracy. The event featured a keynote address by Mauricio Merino Huerta, director of the Instituto de Investigación en Rendición de Cuentas y Combate a la Corrupción at the Universidad de Guadalajara, and three expert panels that addressed democratic governance, electoral dynamics and the state of political parties in Mexico.

The event was held in Spanish with simultaneous interpretation into English. Click here to learn more about using Zoom's language interpretation feature.

The research project and this event were joint efforts by the Baker Institute Center for the United States and Mexico and El Colegio de México (COLMEX). Follow @BakerCtrUSMEX on Twitter, and join the conversation online with #BakerMexico.

To view the English versions, please click below:

Agenda

Each panel will be followed by a Q&A.

8:30 am

Welcome Remarks

Tony Payan, Ph.D.
Françoise and Edward Djerejian Fellow for Mexico Studies; Director, Center for the United States and Mexico, Baker Institute

Ana Covarrubias Velasco, Ph.D.
General Academic Coordinator, El Colegio de México

8:40 am

Speaker Introduction

Rodrigo Montes de Oca
Research Scholar, Center for the United States and Mexico, Baker Institute

8:45 am

Keynote Address: Elections, Political Parties and Democracy in Mexico

Mauricio Merino Huerta, Ph.D.
Director, Instituto de Investigación en Rendición de Cuentas y Combate a la Corrupción, Universidad de Guadalajara and Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económica

Q&A moderated by: Rodrigo Montes de Oca, Research Scholar, Center for the United States and Mexico, Baker Institute

9:20 am

Panel I: Democratic Governance and Political Parties

Moderated by: Tony Payan, Ph.D., Françoise and Edward Djerejian Fellow for Mexico Studies; Director, Center for the United States and Mexico, Baker Institute

Alejandro Díaz Domínguez, Ph.D.
Professor and Researcher, Tecnológico de Monterrey

Soledad Loaeza, Ph.D.
Researcher, Center for International Studies, El Colegio de México

Javier Martín Reyes, J.D.
Professor, Constitutional Law, Election Law and Judicial Politics, CIDE

Gustavo López Montiel, Ph.D.
Adjunct Researcher, Tecnológico de Monterrey

10:20 am

Panel II: Electoral Dynamics

Moderated by: Rodrigo Montes de Oca, Research Scholar, Center for the United States and Mexico, Baker Institute

Gisselle de la Cruz Hermida, J.D.
Researcher, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez

José Fredman Mendoza, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Universidad de Monterrey

Reynaldo Ortega, Ph.D.
Professor and Researcher, Center for International Studies, El Colegio de México

Willibald Sonnleitner, Ph.D.
Professor and Researcher, El Colegio de México

11:20 am

Panel III: State of Political Parties in Mexico

Moderated by: Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, Ph.D., Nonresident Scholar, Center for the United States and Mexico, Baker Institute; Associate Professor, Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University

Dainzú López de Lara, Ph.D.
Professor, International Relations, Universidad de las Americas Puebla (UDLAP)

Ricardo Raphael, Journalist, Milenio, Proceso and Washington Post

Víctor Manuel Reynoso, Ph.D.
Professor, International Relations, UDLAP

Jesús Alberto Rodríguez Alonso, Ph.D.
Professor, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez

René Torres-Ruiz, Ph.D.
Professor and Researcher, Universidad Iberoamericana, Ciudad de México

12:20 pm