Political Parties and Electoral Systems: México?

In 1974, there were only 39 electoral democracies. In 2006, however, there were and now are at least 120 countries that could be regarded as electoral democracies in one form or another. Both the readings for this week and Prof. King's lectures present the "world" of electoral systems: plurality, majority, proportional representation (PR), and mixed. In Prof. King's own description of each system, as well as the articles by Lijphart, Soudriette and Ellis, and Reilly, the description of PR and plurality/majority is the main focus. Through these readings we get more than a basic understanding of each system—district magnitude (single or multi-member), candidates (individual or party), preferences, and allocation—we also get an idea of the different countries that have adopted each system and how that has affected voting, the citizens, and the government itself. The most common examples already known and recognized on a large scale are those of the United Kingdom (central British parliament in London) with the plurality (FPTP) system, and Western Europe with the PR (List PR) system. Indeed, these systems are important because they are the most commonly used across the globe, but what about the other smaller systems? Thus, I shall focus a bit on the mixed systems, specifically the Mixed-Member Proportional group simply for additional knowledge's sake.

Several of us are probably familiar with electoral systems in different countries, either because we have parents or family members who were born in another country, or we were born in another country ourselves, or for the simple interest in diverse electoral systems on a global scale. Whatever the case, I find it necessary to learn about systems outside the United States and thus, I shall focus a bit on Mexico, why not? According to "Electoral Systems Today: A Global Snapshot," the MMP system first developed in post-WWII Germany and is now also used in Albania, Bolivia, Italy, Lesotho, New Zealand, Venezuela, and Mexico. However, Mexico had created its own Parallel System (PS) in 1994 which in due course, led to the most disproportional result the country ever had with a mixed system. After such, the country decided to adopt the MMP system. The President of Mexico is elected for a six-year term; the candidate who wins the most votes is elected president regardless if he or she does not attain absolute majority. El Congreso de la Unión has two chambers: la Cámara de Diputados (500 members, 300 elected in single-seat constituencies by plurality and the other 200 elected by PR0 in 5 multi-state, 40-seat constituencies) and la Cámara de Senadores (128 members, 96 in three-seat constituencies and 32 by PR). I happened to be in Zacatecas, Mexico during the previous presidential elections in 2006 while visiting family and such. The political party billboards, which were everywhere, were not the only thing that surprised me. Rather, it was the fact that before the voting results were announced, Andrés Manuel López Obrador from the "Coalition for the Good of All Party" (PRD, PT, CV) decided to thank the Mexican population for his win and posted on every single billboard: "Gracias, ganámos!" However, Felipe Calderón from the National Action Party was the real winner. The election was followed by a series of negative comments and action taken by an angry Obrador which in the end proved worthless for he remains the loser and NOT the president of Mexico. Just as Mexico, many Latin American countries mostly use Presidential-PR systems while the UK and Western Europe adopt the Parliamentary-PR system. Whatever the case, it is interesting to note which countries adopt which system and why. The decision is, many times, dependent on the cultural and religious diversity of the country itself and of course, the type of government in power.