FROM ELECTORAL FEDERALIZATION TO PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION. THREE REFORMING MOMENTS OF THE MEXICAN POLITICAL-ELECTORAL SYSTEM (1946, 1963 AND 1977)

Abstract

This paper studies the main innovations introduced into the Mexican politicalelectoral
system by three reforms between the 1940s and 1970s, during the
administrations of Manuel Ávila Camacho (1940-1946), Adolfo López Mateos
(1958-1964) and José López Portillo. (1976-1982). Our hypothesis proposes that,
unlike other electoral reforms in the period from the promulgation of the 1917
Constitution to the 1977 reform, these three moments of reform led to
unprecedented constitutional changes, in which the opposition, even without a
significant presence and through various means, managed to introduce some of
their proposals into the Chamber of Deputies. These three reforms were also
influenced, to a greater or lesser degree, by the character of the six-year term in
which they were developed, which helps to explain some of their characteristics.