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The 2000 presidential election of opposition candidate Vicente Fox signaled an end to seven decades of Mexico's single-party regime & seemed to herald the advent of truly competitive politics. But by 2003, economic reform had largely stalled, & Fox's party suffered a historically unprecedented midterm loss in the congress. This article analyzes the underpinnings of policy gridlock in the Fox administration. Fox inherited the need for microeconomic restructuring & increased competitiveness, more innovative & pragmatic state policies, the need to pay attention to the country's sharp income inequalities, & the challenge of crafting a political strategy that could build a middle ground & foster policy consensus. With his party's minority standing in the congress, Fox was constrained from the start by divided government. But more effective statecraft & coalition building would have helped. These will be essential elements for the success of any post-Fox regime. Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.

"Republication of Wiarda's prior writings on US post-Cold War policy reconsiderations, addressing Bush and Clinton processes, critical policy issues, five case studies, and aspects of Latin American politics; contributions are interesting but only loosely linked as a collection"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 57

It is noteworthy that the recent spate of writings in the field of "political development" has shown a pronounced tendency to omit consideration of Latin America. Thus the "communications" and "bureaucracy" volumes in the SSRC political development series are totally innocent of Latin American data, as is an excellent recent treatment of—of all things!—the political behavior of the military in developing areas.The Latin Americanists, for their part, have largely stressed those key features of the area's politics which have long remained constant—executive predominance, military intervention, and the influence of the peculiarities of Hispanic culture. At the same time, it is clear that the social changes usually collectively termed "modernization"—urbanization, technological borrowing, and the development of mass communications grids—together with their political correlate, the expansion of the political community to include hitherto excluded social elements, are proceeding in Latin America too. Accordingly, it becomes desirable to reexamine the "statics" of Latin American politics in the light of the "dynamics" of the processes of political development and social mobilization.The present article attempts this reexamination with respect to the most characteristic feature of Latin American politics, the coup d'état and the establishment of a de facto military government.A priori, mutually contradictory theses about the relations of the military coup to social development can be constructed—and indeed the literature on the subject abounds in such contradictory theses, evidence to support each of which is always available.

AbstractLatin America has been at the forefront of the expansion of rights for same-sex couples. Proponents of same-sex marriage frame the issue as related to human rights and democratic deepening; opponents emphasize morality tied to religious values. Elite framing shapes public opinion when frames resonate with individuals' values and the frame source is deemed credible. Using surveys in 18 Latin American countries in 2010 and 2012, this article demonstrates that democratic values are associated with support for same-sex marriage while religiosity reduces support, particularly among strong democrats. The tension between democratic and religious values is particularly salient for women, people who live outside the capital city, and people who came of age during or before democratization.