Theories of Democratic Consolidation: A Mexico-Germany Comparison
Marcus gustafsson1
This article seeks to examine and apply theories of democratic consolidation by comparing the democratisation process of West Germany after the Second World
War with the current democratic transition in Mexico.
Drawing on a number of general theories in this area,
it proposes two lines of inquiry as a framework of comparison: political commitment and public commitment.
This article also offers ‘public homogeneity’ as an important component of the latter. It examines the impact of
a comparative approach among theories of democratic
consolidation and transition. This article concludes that
political commitment has been the instrumental factor in
both cases, and that West Germany’s stronger political
commitment was key to ensuring a smoother democratic
consolidation than that which has taken place in Mexico.
Introduction
During the 1990s, Mexico slowly emerged from the grip of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which had been the sole party in power
since 1929. Despite relatively open elections from 1994 and onwards,
the country continues to face obstacles on the road to democratic consolidation. In seeking to explain the underlying causes, this article com1 Second Year LLB Student, University of Edinburgh.