& Oxford University Press and Community Development Journal.

2010
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doi:10.1093/cdj/bsq025
Advance Access publication 7 June 2010

The citizens movement for

democracy in Mexico:
achievements, lessons and
perspectives
Luz Rosales Esteva *

Abstract The Mexican Citizens Movement for Democracy emerged in 1992 as

a response to widespread political fraud and state authoritarianism. Its
main aim was to support grass-roots and broad-based citizen
initiatives to strengthen the democratic process and achieve public
and political respect for human rights. The article describes the range
of strategies used by different citizen groups and networks and
highlights the lessons learned during the process of creating and
sustaining the Citizens Movement. The article concludes with a
sobering analysis of the present day political context and the
challenges facing Mexican civil society in their ongoing struggle to
build a more just and fully democratic society.

The Movimiento Ciudadano por la Democracia (MCD Citizens Move-

ment for Democracy) was established in Mexico in 1992 in a context of
recurrent electoral fraud and persistent state authoritarianism. From the
beginning, one of the movements main objectives was to bring together
citizens who wanted to eliminate political corruption and who believed
that a democratic process would begin to tackle serious challenges in
Mexico such as a lack of social justice and respect for human rights, as
well as pervasive governmental impunity at all levels. Throughout
Mexico, many organizations and citizens joined these efforts with proposals
for political and social transformation, giving a voice to social actors
demanding justice and defending basic principles of democracy.

*Address for correspondence: email: luz_esteva@hotmail.com

Community Development Journal Vol 45 No 3 July 2010 pp. 317324 317

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 318 Luz Rosales Esteva

This article gives an overview of the political climate before, during and
after the emergence of the MCD, an analysis of the movements strategies
and advances and the lessons learned in the course of the process. The
article concludes with an exploration of the present day challenges faced
by Mexican civil society, which while disillusioned and fragmented,
hopes to breathe new life into a democracy which will respond to the col-
lective needs of the marginalized majority of the population.

Historical context ruling power vs. citizen power

In 1910, a revolution that lasted for more than two decades took place in
Mexico. One of the outcomes of this revolution was a new political elite
that identified itself as heir to the principles of the revolution and, over
time, built a complex system of government led by the Partido Revolucionario
Institucional, PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party). The PRI remained in
absolute power for more than 70 years with a range of populist mechanisms
which responded, to some extent, to social and political demands but which
left in place the inbuilt structural injustices in the country. While inherently
authoritarian in nature, the PRI did achieve a certain level of social legiti-
macy thanks to advances in social security, education and health services
in different sectors. These advances were, however, achieved at the cost
of a decline in political activism in many sectors hindering democratic pro-
gress for many decades.
In the mid-1980s, the so-called technocrats within the PRI brought a sig-
nificant political shift by embracing neoliberal economic policies. The priva-
tization of many public institutions favoured the business sector and
contributed significantly to the dismantling of the state apparatus. The
private sector assumed functions that were traditionally the responsibility
of the State, especially in health, education, energy and work. The policies
further marginalized the rural sector.
At the beginning of the 1990s, the PRI governed almost every state and
municipality in the country and had most of the seats in Congress. The elec-
toral process was consistently marked by electoral fraud ensuring the
re-election and monopoly of power and representation of the PRI at both
national and municipal levels.
Many sectors of the middle and working classes together with intellec-
tuals and the political opposition began to respond with new forms of
civil organization to end electoral fraud and to create a more robust citizens
movement to influence and bring credibility to the electoral process. These
groups analysed that without a peaceful electoral change in the political
arena, it would be impossible to change the social and economic structures
that hinder fully democratic governance and social justice. A turning point

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 The citizens movement for democracy in Mexico 319

came in 1991 with the independent political campaign for state election of
Salvador Nava supported by human rights and social organizations, aca-
demics and opinion-makers all around the country. This pluralist citizens
movement established the first ever process of independent electoral obser-
vers at state level. Despite this effort to guarantee electoral transparency,
electoral fraud and the ongoing political arrangements of the elites once
more ensured the success of the ruling party PRI candidate in 1992.
The response was an unprecedented mass march for dignity from the
state capital to Mexico City, the national capital. The mobilization was sup-
ported by citizens and intellectuals around the country with the demand
that electoral fraud be eliminated; it succeeded in unseating the PRI state
governor and a new election was called. This created a high level of aware-
ness of the potential of citizen power and the possibility of an ethical
national citizens movement that could galvanize groups around the
country in working towards electoral democracy, social justice and guaran-
tees of political rights. This phenomenon became the cornerstone of the
MCD movement.

The birth of the MCD and its achievements

From the beginning, the MCD was committed to pluralism and inclusion:
informal social groups, formal civic organizations, peasant associations,
human rights networks and independent citizens all around the country
joined this autonomous movement. Despite being associated with left-wing
parties, it did not represent any religious belief or political party.
The movement organized at both national and state levels. The national
assembly attended by intellectuals, politicians, representatives of social
and civil organizations, non-partisan citizens and peasant organizations
approved the founding statement and basic guidelines for human rights
and democracy. At state level, the movement organized diverse forums
and provided acompanamiento (literally, accompaniment), particularly
in some local communities where the social and political context was
violent and inhibited autonomous social participation.
Overall, the MCD organized itself around the principles of the struggle
for democracy and free and fair elections; the defence and promotion of
human rights; and a programme of citizens training and education in
democracy and human rights. Moreover, national and local MCD
members maintained regular contact with national and regional assemblies
ensuring an open and participatory process. International and national
fund-raising generated the resources for MCD members to travel around
the country and initiate educational campaigns and socio-political
mobilizations. The MCD worked hard to broaden its networks and its

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 320 Luz Rosales Esteva

socio-political agenda in order to include diverse and hitherto isolated

grassroots organizations. The MCD emphasized support for broad-based
civic organizations that worked with peasant and indigenous communities
to ensure that the social struggles of these marginalized groups were recog-
nized, supported and included. Notably, women were in the majority in
these groups. At the same time, the original national MCD board, formed
by well-known intellectuals, mostly men, increasingly began to change
and include women and local and community leaders.
In the beginning, the MCD demanded legal changes to create and conso-
lidate independent, autonomous democratic institutions to ensure political
rights and more effective mechanisms of civil participation in the decision-
making process. A process initiated at both the national and state levels
aimed at reviewing electoral laws with the objective of making proposals
for change to the appropriate national and state bodies. Key aspects
designed to guarantee the equality of elections were collectively defined,
forming what was labelled the five points for democracy: autonomous
and independent organizations; reliable issuing of voting credentials; a pro-
hibition on the use of public resources in favour of any candidate; equal rep-
resentation in the media and equal resources for the different campaigns.
These five points were part of a campaign to raise the general publics
level of social awareness although resource constraints ultimately limited
the desired scale of the national campaign.
At the same time, the movement worked to establish a national network
of civil observers at the local level. As a result, almost 5000 citizens partici-
pated in the national elections of 1994 as observers, and the movement
managed to mobilize citizens and intellectuals from around the country
in most states where competitive elections were contested. Although
votes were not respected in many cases, the presence and monitoring by
the MCD members legitimized the post-electoral struggle of citizen organ-
izations against widespread electoral fraud and violence. As a result, some
Governors who had been fraudulently elected were replaced and new elec-
tions brought a more moderated/inclusive governor who was forced to
negotiate and open up new spaces for local civil organizations.
Civic groups continued to look for the support of the MCD after the elec-
toral process. The MCD promoted the exchange of information, participa-
tory methods, and educational material among different NGOs, peasant
and indigenous groups, and independent citizens aimed at strengthening
their local capacities and interactions with local authorities. The MCD
tried to maintain relationships with this wide spectrum of organizations
in order to have a stronger local presence. It held workshops, established
links between new groups and invited them to write about their experience
in a bimonthly newsletter to promote themselves at the national level.

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 The citizens movement for democracy in Mexico 321

Due to the lack of resources, the Internet was widely used by groups in
order to garner support for their demands.
After a long spell of activities aimed at making an impact upon, and gen-
erating the support of the media (mainly newspapers and radio), a certain
level of publicity for the struggle of the MCD groups at the local, national
and international level was achieved. In many cases, when a group or a
member primarily among the indigenous population was threatened
because of their civil actions, the MCD tried to protect them by issuing
press releases, holding conferences or writing letters to the authorities
reporting the incident with the support of eminent individuals and
groups from the different states.
Another means of articulating the MCDs message was through civic
education material and workshops targeted at different sectors in the
country. Local and national workshops on democracy and citizenship
building, conflict resolution, civil peaceful resistance, political ethics, lobby-
ing and leadership training were extremely popular among social and citi-
zens organizations, especially womens groups and indigenous
communities. Strong local networks meant that specific campaigns such
as Juego Limpio (Fair Game) in 1994; Pienso . . . luego voto (I think therefore
I vote) in 1997; and Pienso, voto y luego exijo (I think, vote and then
demand) in 2000 had a wide reach. The MCD ensured that education and
campaign materials reached rural areas, and were placed in public places,
shops, city councils or being read aloud on local radio stations.

Critical learning and success factors

The MCD was recognized for taking the lead in introducing ethics into poli-
tics. This was reflected in the MCDs own commitment to maintaining the
moral trust of its member and other social organizations at all levels. This
was achieved in large part by respecting the autonomy of each participating
group. This is one of the main factors in the successful impact and expan-
sion of the movement. At the same time, openness and learning within
the MCD were promoted through national assemblies: in these assemblies,
the activities of the movement were shared, financial reports were pre-
sented and guidelines determined. There were expert panels on relevant
political topics, and the sharing of successful experiences of the groups
was fostered. Gradually the social composition of the MCD board
expanded; whereas originally it had been formed by intellectuals and poli-
ticians, it increasingly included representatives of different social groups
and communities.
Sustaining a pluralist approach was also key to the MCDs achievements.
It worked with social and civic networks on human rights, with trade

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 322 Luz Rosales Esteva

unions on labour rights and with other groups focussing on the

environment and freedom of expression in the media. This approach
ensured mutual support around a wide range of social demands. The inter-
ests of community and sectoral groups came together in a joint struggle for
fair and equitable elections with multi-party national and state-level politi-
cal public debates around the issues of the citizens agenda.
The MCD was consistent in maintaining its overarching demand for elec-
toral transparency and developed a strategy of establishing international
links as well as sustaining consistent and practical support at local levels.
It won the support of European, Canadian and American agencies for the
national campaigns on civic education and electoral observation. At the
same time, the MCD offered technical and moral support to local groups
during state and/or municipal elections while using national media to pub-
licize the results of the citizen electoral observers.
Building strategic and tactical working relationships with journalists and
radio broadcasters was another key factor in enabling the voices of commu-
nity and regional leaders and social groups to be heard. For instance, com-
munity radio stations reported the acts of civil disobedience by
marginalized and exploited community and indigenous groups.

Achievements and challenges two steps forward; one

step back?
The MCD, with other citizens organizations, contributed to the process of
starting the democratic transition in Mexico. The PRI lost power for the first
time in 2000. The Instituto Federal Electoral (IFE Federal Electoral Insti-
tute) was created as the independent electoral arbitrator with the responsi-
bility of organizing and monitoring elections. While it enjoyed early and
widespread credibility among citizens, its degree of independence has
been questioned subsequently.
Multi-party politics continues to survive in Mexico, a significant achieve-
ment following the 70-year absolute rule of one party. Local citizen
struggles for economic, political, social and environmental rights were
put on the national agenda and new methods of participation, civic
pressure and peaceful mobilization were achieved. In particular, the
demands and struggles of indigenous people were supported and heard
. . . not least due to the armed uprising of the Ejercito Zapatista de Libera-
cion Nacional (National Zapatista Liberation Army) in 1994.
Much was achieved, but some of the changes were partial or difficult to
sustain. The Federal Election Institute and the creation of other national and
state commissions for human rights are subject to relatively weak mechan-
isms of independent control. The risk is that these institutions, if not

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 The citizens movement for democracy in Mexico 323

strengthened by independent monitoring, will legitimize impunity and/or

political complicity and return the Mexican state to its historic crisis of
credibility.
The reforms and public policies initiated by civil society have lacked con-
tinuity. Although Mexican electoral law was modified according to the
demands of the citizens movements, it has been weakened by a lack of sys-
tematic monitoring or accountability. Mexican elections are currently
among the most expensive in the world and electoral fraud remains a
problem.
Even though single party rule was ended in the 2000 election with the
victory of the opposition PAN party, weak accountability to civil society
has meant that much of the MCD vision has not been realized. With
many activists joining the new government, civil society, ironically, was
left weakened. This created a lack of continuity in the campaign for
public policies to demand rights, for ensuring the accountability of political
actors in holding them to their campaign commitments and for the ongoing
struggle against impunity and corruption. With no alternative and inclusive
national project, there is a strong risk of democratic regression and a high
level of disillusionment among citizens.

Mexican civil society: today and tomorrow

There are good and important local examples of autonomous organizations,
particularly in regions with significant indigenous populations, who
struggle to defend their territory and their collective rights against arbitrary
governmental decisions. These organizations have faced State violence and
indifference, and continue to lack articulated social support. Further com-
plications arise as some local initiatives are seen to be too radical by
others. Other political opposition actors continue to lead campaigns on
specific issues but these are atomized and lack national cohesion, in part
due to the partisan leadership of specific politicians. The present govern-
ment of Mexico has begun to support more conservative civil, business
and religious groups. Generally national political performance has been
poor, marked by ongoing corruption and abuse of power, leading to a
wide sense of disaffection among the electorate and different social sectors.
Undoubtedly, there have been concrete achievements. Many citizens who
had never mobilized before did so through the different proposals of the
MCD and other local initiatives. The movement responded to an historical
moment in which many factors combined to increase the importance of a
citizens organization in the search for citizens power. The MCD to some
extent acquired this power but failed to secure it. The political transition
through the participation of other parties in power has been achieved, yet

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 324 Luz Rosales Esteva

democracy has been left unfinished. Likewise, citizens rights and social
justice have been postponed, which jeopardizes political stability and the
viability of the Mexican State.
How should a currently disarticulated and divided civil society respond
in this political and social reality? It will be important to learn from pre-
vious lessons of civil society struggles and achievements to ensure that a
social and ethical movement can again gather momentum and provide lea-
dership for change.
The next citizens movement must recapture pluralism and ethics, focus-
ing on the redesign of institutions which have lost credibility and renew
peaceful forms of struggle and civil resistance to achieve concrete
demands. Above all, it will be essential to revitalize the ongoing struggle
for electoral transparency and accountability to translate public policy
into government programmes and budgets which will meet the needs of
the most marginalized.

Supplementary material
A Spanish translation of this article is available as supplementary material
at CDJ online.

Luz Rosales Esteva is trained as a social worker, and has sought equity and social justice both
through working for government and through her activism in civil society. She was Director
General of the Institute of Women of D.F. (2002 2006) and Director General of Equity and
Social Justice for the District Federal Government (2000 2001). As a citizen she has tried to
advance democracy in Mexico and was Executive Secretary of the Citizens Movement for
Democracy (1992 2000). She currently coordinates the programme Effective Discourse at
the Autonomous University of the City of Mexico.

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