Abstract

LOAEZA, Soledad. Two Hypotheses on the Authoritarian Presidentialism. Rev. mex. cienc. polít. soc [online]. 2013, vol.58, n.218, pp.53-72. ISSN 0185-1918.

Despite being the object of many considerations and opinions, a presidentialist paradigm has been dominating discussions on Mexico's authoritarian presidentialism. This paradigm focuses on the personal and idiosyncratic exercise of power and includes significant culturalist elements. This article, on the one hand, outlines a historical background that contextualizes decisions taken by presidents in the years 1944-1970; and on the other it develops an argument that is based on two premises. The first of these posits that Mexican presidents' field of action was limited by important restrictions and by the rhythms of a process that developed episodically, rather than in a linear or progressive fashion; the other premise underscores a geopolitical limitation inherent to sharing a border with the United States which limited the president's scope of action and influenced the country's institutional development. Authoritarian presidentialism's evolution bore the print of this influence. This article introduces elements for discussing these hypotheses. The first section consists of a critical review of the presidentialist paradigm; the second explains the restrictions brought about by Mexico's border with the United States; and the third and last section focuses on a description of the type of episodes which may be useful in illustrating authoritarian presidentalism's development. Both hypotheses used in this article have guided broader research on the Cold War's impact on Mexico and the development of presidentialism.

Keywords : authoritarian presidentialism; democracy; Cold War; hegemonic party; Mexico-United States relation.

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