Roderic Ai Camp

The Influence of Party Systems on Citizens’ Perceptions of Corruption and Electoral Response in Latin America

This study examines how different party systems in Latin America affect the capability of opposition parties to use public concerns about political corruption for electoral mobilization. Opposition partisanship is more strongly linked to perceptions of corruption in the ideologically polarized party system of Chile than in the hegemonic party system then in decline in Mexico or in the centrist two-party system of Costa Rica. However, the capability of opposition parties in all three party systems to mobilize electoral support among voters dissatisfied with corruption is weakened by the tendency of these politically alienated citizens to withdrawfrom all types of political involvement. Implications of the findings for redressing problems of political corruption through the electoral process and for a deepening of democracy in Latin America are discussed.

Camarillas in Mexican Politics: The Case of the Salinas Cabinet

El presente ensayo explora la importancia de las camarillas y sus consecuencias en la politica mexicana, en particular el significado de los origenes politicos personales del gabinete de Salinas.

The Mexican Ruling Party: Stability and Authority.

List of Illustrations Preface Introduction Birth of the Ruling Party The Revolutionary Party in Power Electoral System, Opposition Parties, and PRI Dominance Internal Organization of the PRI and Interest Group Incorporation Societal Actors Outside the PRI The PRI and Mexican Political Elites Challenges Facing the PRI and Mexico Notes Bibliography Index

Family Relationships in Mexican Politics: A Preliminary View

Does the pattern of ties to politically active families followed by Mexican presidents accurately reflect the place of kinship ties in the recruitment of other political leaders, or have political families generally been more extensive in the Mexican political system? The purpose of this paper is to examine the presence of kindship ties among political leaders in Mexico since 1935, and to speculate on the reasons for their presence and the extent of their influence on certain political careers. The paper finds that the importance of these ties has not declined, and that their incidence is affected strongly by several variables, including age, family background, and place and type of education. The implications of these findings for turnover and succession, and modernization in Mexico are discussed.

Democracy through Mexican lenses

Mexicos path to democracy, and its embrace of democratic values is the topic of ample discussion in this country, and around the world. Veteran Latin America hand Roderic Camp surveys the Mexican public, using results from Costa Rica and Chile as backdrops, to quantify democracy in Mexico.

The 2012 Presidential Election and What It Reveals about Mexican Voters

The 2012 presidential election in Mexico is significant for many reasons, not least of which is that it returned the Partido Revolucionario Institucional to power after two Partido Accion Nacional administrations. This essay reviews more than 50 surveys taken before and during the election to determine significant patterns among Mexican voters, comparing the most influential traditional and non-traditional demographic variables, as well as other variables such as partisanship and policy issues in this election, with those of the two previous presidential races. It also analyses other influential variables in the 2012 presidential race, including social media and the application of new electoral legislation. It identifies significant differences and similarities among voters today in contrast to the two prior elections, and suggests long-term patterns among Mexican voters which are likely to influence voting behaviour in future elections, ranging from regionalism and gender to partisanship and social media.

Women and Political Leadership in Mexico: A Comparative Study of Female and Male Political Elites

RECENT SCHOLARSHIP HAS begun to pay closer attention to the political role of women. However, the existing information on this subject is, for the most part, from political cultures with predominantly English or West European groups, and women in political leadership of the more traditional developing countries have received very little attention. Furthermore, most studies examine mass female roles, particularly focusing on womens knowledge and interest in governmental affairs. The following is an effort to close this gap by providing information on the role of women as leaders in Mexican politics. Such a study, in general terms, might suggest what role, if any, women would play in changing government policies once they reach leadership positions. Mexico is a useful country to examine because it represents the stereotype of masculine supremacy, social cleavages, and authoritarian politics predominant in many countries. The purpose of this article is to examine briefly the literature available on Mexican women in general, and their political roles in particular. Further, I will suggest several hypotheses concerning the political role of women on the basis of this literature and studies

Democracy, gender quotas, and political recruitment in Mexico

Do male and female legislators have different qualifications, experience, and backgrounds? If so, what are the main differences and what explains these differences? Are women more likely to rely on personal connections? Are well qualified women routinely passed over in favor of similarly qualified men? Do gender quotas and transitions to multiparty democracy affect the recruitment patterns of men and women? Do gender quotas lead to the recruitment of less qualified women? This article attempts to explain how informal gendered selection norms change over time using detailed data from over 500 Mexican Senators since 1964. The data provide evidence of discrimination in that to be successful, female senators need to have more legislative experience and more party experience than male senators. We also find evidence that traditional gender roles lead women to follow different paths to power. After the transition to democracy and the implementation of gender quotas, the importance of local legislative experience increased, discrimination against female aspirants declined, and a more diverse group of women entered the Senate. Our data show that women are no more likely than men to rely on personal connections to get into power.

Battling for the Voter, Mexico's Path to Democracy

The long-anticipated presidential elections are over. Many disputes remain about the process. Most observers agree, however, that whatever fraud occurred within the election process per se is not sufficient enough to overturn the election outcome. The larger electoral context, however, still remains questionable and favors the incumbent party, the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI). Nevertheless, what does the PRI victory, at nearly 50 percent of the electorate, tell us about Mexican democracy, the electoral process, and political change? I would like to offer ten observations about Mexicos elections and examine them critically.

Technocracy a la Mexicana:Antecedent to Democracy?

Any discussion of technocracy and technocrats in the Latin American context these days must face head-on the ambiguities and contradictions inherent in their conceptualization. Because social scientists and policymakers are those most interested in these decisionmakers, a strong tendency exists to suggest that these individuals emerged Phoenix-like from the region’s disastrous economic and political crises of the 1980s. Yet, depending on how one characterizes this political type, a long-standing historical antecedent of the tecnico can be found in Mexico and, I suspect, throughout Latin America. Technocrats also have roots in other cultures, such as the mandarins in ancient China, and are subsumed under the larger issue of the rapid expansion of knowledge workers, particularly the intelligentsia, in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe (Bruce-Briggs, 1979).