Issues in International Political Economy: Governing a Demonstrably Divided Mexico

September 15, 2006

As the July 2, 2006, election showed, Mexico is a politically and socially divided country. The coalitions around the two leading parties (the National Action Party, or PAN, and the Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD) each commanded the loyalty of 35 percent of the voters in the presidential contest. The margin of victory of the declared winner, Felipe Calderón of the PAN, was half a percentage point out of more than 41 million votes cast. The northern part of the country is rich by Mexican standards and the southern part is poor by any standard.