Think tanks in Mexico: Shielding civil society organisations
Despite its size and importance, Mexican civil society is among the weakest in the region. This structural fragility can be explained through a set of conditions that determine its weak relative position in comparison with other Latin American countries.
For some specialists, the appearance of organised civil society can be traced back to the 1968 student movement massacre on 2 October that year. The social outrage caused by this genocide led to the emergence of early human rights and political participation organisations. However, a big part of the social leadership was later co-opted or marginalised by authoritarian rule.
It was not until the 1985 earthquake that civil society broke onto the national scene. Many social organisations, particularly in Mexico City, responded better and faster than the government. For many specialists, this episode marked a before and after in citizen participation in the country. Later, in 1988, with the presidential voting fraud, many social organisations mobilised to defend the vote. Nevertheless, the regime managed to defuse the movement and kept the activism of many social leaders under some control.
Throughout the Mexican transition to democracy, and as the opposition gained power, many civic organisations began to emerge and occupy influential spaces in the country’s public affairs. With the first divided government in 1997, when the president’s party lost its majority in the Chamber of Deputies for the first time, many organisations became involved in the national debate. The biggest trigger for citizen participation occurred with the first alternating government in 2000, when the opposition first won the presidency of the Republic.
Since then, not without intermittency and some setbacks, Mexican civil society has occupied increasingly relevant spaces. The enactment of the Civil Society Development Act in 2004 gave civil society organisations a key impetus for their development and consolidation.
The emergence and development of think tanks in Mexico was possible because of the growing awareness of civil society organisations on the importance of strategically influencing public policies by developing technical arguments. The government also recognised the importance of incorporating independent voices into the public decision-making processes. The funding provided by the arrival of more international organisations and foundations that wanted to promote their agendas in Mexico also contributed significantly to their development.
Nevertheless, 2018 marked the beginning of the think tank crisis in Mexico. Mexico’s current president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, not only distrusts civil society but has attacked it through various channels. López Obrador has cut budgets and funds for social organisations, discredited independent research, and forced tax audits onto certain organisations. These actions have caused many think tanks to lose funding, third-party support, and influence over public decisions.
The pandemic crisis has posed an adverse scenario for civil society organisations. Think tanks in Mexico not only face the inherent difficulties of the crisis but also the attacks coming directly from the government. However, many of these organisations continue with their much-needed work, looking for new forms of organisation that allow them to survive. This context forecasts a profound reconfiguration of civil society in its relationship with the state in the short-term future.
Timeline: Mexican historical events (1994–2021)
David Gómez-Álvarez
Executive Director | Transversal Think Tank
