Authoritarian Elites, Opposition Elites, and Turnovers in Mexican States with Authoritarian Features

What is it about?

In 2010 there were five gubernatorial elections in Mexico in which the PAN and the left built electoral alliances, all of them in states with authoritarian features and where the PRI had never lost the governor’s office. The PRI lost in Oaxaca, Puebla, and Sinaloa, while it won in Durango and Hidalgo. There was turnover when the authoritarian elite fractured while the opposition elite was unified, including the groups that defected from the established elite.

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Why is it important?

In contrast with extant work, usually limited to the analysis of the impacts of authoritarian elite fracture on democratic advancement, this article also focuses on the unification of the opposition, a dimension practically absent in existing scholarship. As far as recent evidence from Mexico goes, the unification of the opposition is decisive for turnovers to happen in authoritarian enclaves.