From Germinal Democracy to Authoritarianism

Abstract

This article traces Mexico’s trajectory from the gradual construction of a democratic order —consolidated through reforms enacted between 1977 and 1997— to the accelerated institutional erosion experienced since 2018. The analysis is framed through key theoretical traditions: Norberto Bobbio’s reflections on procedural guarantees, Giovanni Sartori’s conceptualization of minimal institutional thresholds, and the classic insights of Guillermo O’Donnell, Philippe Schmitter, and Laurence Whitehead regarding the vulnerabilities of democratic transitions. It also engages Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt’s argument that contemporary democracies typically decay not through military coups but through elected leaders who gradually hollow out institutional constraints. Within this framework, the article highlights how the polarization between “the people” and “the anti-people,” the weakening of autonomous bodies, judicial pressure, and electoral recentralization echo broader patterns of democratic backsliding worldwide. It concludes that the limited societal resistance to these transformations stems from the historical disjunction between democratization and social justice, along with the political effects of redistributive programs that coexist with growing executive concentration.