Theories of Democratic Consolidation: A Mexico-Germany Comparison
tions, (5) freedom of expression, (6) alternative sources of information,
(7) freedom of association, and (8) public policy institutions depending
on votes and expressions of preference (1971: 3). This article seeks to
establish the causes of consolidation, not when consolidation can be said
to have occurred. Nevertheless, the two are clearly interlinked. If you are
to establish the causes of a particular state of affairs, the state of affairs
must first be adequately defined.
In the West German case, this article will borrow from Lijphart’s analysis, where he considers West Germany to be a proper democracy in 1949;
relying, inter alia, on Dahl’s criteria as enunciated above (1999: 50). The
analysis may be over-optimistic in assuming that sufficient consolidation had occurred after merely four years, but at least indicates that the
West German democratic consolidation was relatively rapid, especially
if compared to that of Mexico. In 1999, for the first time, Freedom House
1
rated Mexico as “free” in recognition of the forthcoming presidential
election the following year (Smith 2012: 80-1), yet in 2011 Mexico was
again downgraded to “partly free” (Freedom House 2011). Mexico continues to heavily restrain citizens’ rights. As Selee and Peschard note,
the Mexican political regime is no longer authoritarian, but has instead
transitioned into “an exclusionary democratic” regime (2010: 3).
Twenty years on from the first relatively open election in 1994, Mexico
still struggles to fulfil Dahl’s eight criteria outlined above. In contrast,
West Germany’s democratic consolidation seems to have been considerably smoother. Relying on general theories of democratic consolidation,
this article seeks to offer an explanation for this discrepancy. In the following section, an attempt is made to review and synthesise the general
Independent US-based watchdog dedicated to promoting freedom around the world.
Since 1973 it has published an annual Freedom in the World report, surveying political
rights and civil liberties in the majority of the nations around the world. Their surveys are
widely used and relied on by academic commentators.
1
79