Changing Candidate Selection Tactics in Mexico's Parties after Democratization

The three major parties in Mexico, the centrist PRI, the center-right PAN, and the center-left PRD, have experimented with almost every type of candidate selection procedure since the transition to democracy began in the early 1990s.  However, they continue to have experience serious problems of choosing popular candidates at the same time they keep their restive party politicians within the ranks of the party, as party switching is relatively costless.

This paper examines how the parties selected their legislative candidates before and after 2000, and will explain how the pressures of democratic elections have forced them to repeatedly change their selection procedures.