This is the best current book in English to analyze and understand the institutions, politics, economics, and social development of contemporary Mexico. I highly recommend this as the text for any course on Mexican politics or policy at the undergraduate or graduate levels.
Edmonds-Poli and Shirk have crafted a fourth edition of this essential text on Mexican politics that brings us into the present and clearly identifies the key institutional and policy challenges faced by the AMLO administration. With firm foundations in history, the authors have expertly identified the most important patterns and trends in modern Mexican politics. This book should be required reading for all students of Mexican and Latin American politics.
This third edition of Contemporary Mexican Politics traces Mexico's history from pre-Columbian times to Spanish colonial rule, independence, US conquests of Mexican territory, the Mexican Revolution, and a slow transition to current democratic government. Considerable focus is on the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the party that became the embodiment of the 1910 Mexican Revolution and governed through co-opting opposition forces and repression, under the facade of a democracy. Edmonds-Poli and Shirk describe how economic crisis and government corruption cost the PRI public support, leading it to allow free elections and victory for the opposition National Action Party in 2000. When the PRI regained power in 2012, it signed the Pact for Mexico with the other two major parties in a spirit of cooperation. The authors, nonetheless, cite a 2014 study revealing that only one in five Mexicans was satisfied with the political and economic situation. Continued corruption and violence—greatly related to drug trafficking—and a huge gap between rich and poor tarnish the democratic system. However, the authors express some admiration, saying that ‘Mexico's ability to move, in one generation, from a single-party-dominant system to one with vibrant competition is remarkable.’ Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate and graduate collections.
Now in its second decade of a complex transition to democracy, Mexico confronts significant challenges to achieve economic growth with equity, along with rule of law. With a well-considered selection of topics, this current, concise, clearly written introduction to the government and politics of Mexico serves as both a comparative politics text as well as a reference guide for the interested public.
This third edition of Contemporary Mexican Politics traces Mexico's history from pre-Columbian times to Spanish colonial rule, independence, US conquests of Mexican territory, the Mexican Revolution, and a slow transition to current democratic government. Considerable focus is on the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the party that became the embodiment of the 1910 Mexican Revolution and governed through co-opting opposition forces and repression, under the facade of a democracy. Edmonds-Poli and Shirk describe how economic crisis and government corruption cost the PRI public support, leading it to allow free elections and victory for the opposition National Action Party in 2000. When the PRI regained power in 2012, it signed the Pact for Mexico with the other two major parties in a spirit of cooperation. The authors, nonetheless, cite a 2014 study revealing that only one in five Mexicans was satisfied with the political and economic situation. Continued corruption and violence—greatly related to drug trafficking—and a huge gap between rich and poor tarnish the democratic system. However, the authors express some admiration, saying that ‘Mexico's ability to move, in one generation, from a single-party-dominant system to one with vibrant competition is remarkable.’ Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate and graduate collections.
Contemporary Mexican Politics offers a serious and systematic accounting of one of the world's most complex and interesting governing systems. . . . The autocracy of the PRI ultimately gave way in 2000 to a full multi-party state which had been gestating for the previous decade. Edmonds-Poli and Shirk offer illuminating insights into both the one party state and its democratic heir in this valuable volume.
Edmonds-Poli and Shirk do a masterful job of making the Mexican political system—one of the most complex in the developing world—comprehensible to students. The authors succeed in demonstrating both how far Mexico has come and how much remains to be done to consolidate its nascent democracy, making this an ideal text for both Mexico-focused courses and broader surveys of Latin American politics.
Edmonds-Poli and Shirk have produced a masterful survey of Mexican politics. Their work is comprehensive in scope, sensitive to long-term historical change, and very insightful concerning the diverse political, social, and foreign policy challenges facing contemporary Mexico. The book will undoubtedly attract a broad readership.
Contemporary Mexican Politics does an excellent job of laying out the foundations of the Mexican political system, leaving little of relevance out of the picture. For students of comparative politics, it is an excellent entry-level volume, which elegantly brings together the complex intricacies of one of the world’s most unique political systems. . . . For everyone else with an interest in Mexican history, politics or current affairs, a recommendation is no less valid.
Contemporary Mexican Politics does an excellent job of laying out the foundations of the Mexican political system, leaving little of relevance out of the picture. For students of comparative politics, it is an excellent entry-level volume, which elegantly brings together the complex intricacies of one of the world’s most unique political systems. . . . For everyone else with an interest in Mexican history, politics or current affairs, a recommendation is no less valid.
November 2009 International Affairs
Edmonds-Poli and Shirk have crafted a stellar book on Mexican politics. This is a must read for students of Mexican politics and policy makers. The authors clearly achieve their goal of providing a thorough discussion of Mexico's political development and, in the process, explain the country's democratic transition and evaluate its prospects for survival. . . . This book is well cited, accessible, and engaging. . . . This is an excellent book on contemporary Mexican politics. Highly recommended.
