Resumo

GONZALEZ TULE, Luis Antonio. Internal cohesion with the absence of a unifying leader in the PRI. Polis [online]. 2010, vol.6, n.1, pp.97-130. ISSN 2594-0686.

PRI legislators in the Mexican Chamber of Deputies have distinguished themselves by maintaining high levels of party discipline. With the 2000 presidential loss, which meant loss of their appointed leader, the rupture among factions has been evidenced. However, up to what point has the lack of a unifying leader affected the internal cohesion of the legislative group? Through roll-call data analysis this article measures cohesion amongst the PRI's deputies during three legislative periods (1997-2000, 2000-2003 and 2003-2006), in order to determine legislative voting behavior. This paper's main argument suggests that albeit the presence of internal conflicts and lack of a common leadership, the PRI maintains relatively high levels of cohesion due to the conservation of a large portion of the internal organization that maintained them in power for seven decades.

Palavras-chave : legislative behavior; party cohesion; Mexican Chamber of Deputies; Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).