The state of Mexico in 1997
Mexico. 1997. It’s a turning point politically. After years of irrelevance, an opposition party wins a majority in the Mexican Congress. Nearly 70 years after its founding, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) lost its aura of invincibility.
In the three years between the first systemic losses of PRI and a presidential win by its main rival, PAN, Mexico experienced radical — and positive — shifts in transparency and accountability.
It was a moment made possible by electoral reform. A series of changes in 1996 opened the door for autonomous management and citizen councils, spurring mass participation by common citizens. Truly competitive national elections are the inevitable outcome of open political processes.
By the end of the twentieth century, participatory democracy — voting and intervening in public policy — replaced mass demonstrations as the primary route for influencing government decisions. It was the embryonic period for CSOs in Mexico. The period in which new organizations were formed and began feeling their way toward a prominent role in Mexican political society.
Mexico in 1997. A transitional year. A year ripe for change. And a year in which the Hewlett Foundation began its Mexican operations.
