Public Participation and Information Technologies 1999
Published by CITIDEP & DCEA-FCT-UNL, edited by Pedro Ferraz de Abreu & João Joanaz de Melo
© CITIDEP 2000

Chapter 2
PP-IT and new democratic models and expressions

Thinking about new technology when your institutional machinery has just started. Are we prepared? Mexico City Case.

Alejandra Sota Mirafuentes


This essay has the purpose to show two examples of participatory democracy in a local government, specifically in Mexico City since the last electoral reform was implemented.

The examples given are based in two different types of issues:

  1. The intermediate figure between local government and citizens, which is a person elected in order to represent his or her neighbors, but without the participation of political parties. This institutional arrangement was born because of the lack of trust toward political parties, but that has derived in important conclusions, adverse to the original purposes. I will attempt to demonstrate, with the last experience - held in July 4th, 1999 ­ what are the problems that this particular figure faces: high levels of abstentionism, low levels of information (not only about the election itself, but for all the political process involved after the election occurs), lack of accountability, and other important conclusions.
  2. The electoral reform that allowed figures of direct democracy - such as the referendum, plebiscite or popular consulting ­ to exist in Mexico City, face problems when such figures are being put in practice. Again, the lack of information is a very important issue, if we consider that Mexico City is one of the largest in terms of population in the whole world. This means that it is required for a lot of actors involved participating ­mainly the electronic media- but not much of them really do. Given the fact that TV is one of the most important channels between citizens and government, when there is not full coverage a plebiscite to be applied, abstentionism goes up. The other aspect this form of direct democracy faces, is the lack of responsibility within some of the political actors that use these tools without a methodological strictness. This takes place when a popular consult such as the EZLN (Zapatista National Liberation Army Movement) consult for the indians autonomy is being held, and the questionnaire presents some form of bias that make citizens respond in a less objective form.

The essay presents a brief introduction that explains the antecedents of the electoral reform, in order to understand why they were approved as a form of direct democracy for Mexico City as a way of solving problems that had to do directly with it.

Therefore, the paper continues explaining how the reforms are being applied, and which results are now being studied from a critical lens.

By explaining the most relevant conclusions that both examples show, the essay tries to explain the next goals to be achieved by a city that hasn't applied democracy in a traditional way, but that has suffered from the centralization being held by more than 70 years in the whole country.

Even if there has been little time since the reforms were applied for the first time, the comparative perspective can give us important hints that what may and may not be the best way to apply institutional arrangements into practice, and this essay tries to contribute to that goal.

One way to approach the dilemmas or the main problems democracy faces in the late twentieth century, is the one of local governments in developing countries.

As time goes, the development of the economy in development countries take place almost automatically, given the constraints they face within the international organizations that put requisites to them.

But the issue of democracy is not the most common demand for them, at least not when democracy doesn't work institutionally, even if the constitution work.