Introduction

One of the most heated debates around the policy process has been centered on the role of politics and political parties in the policymaking process. One school of thought argues that such process is driven less by parties, policies and ideas than by environmental or demographic forces. On the contrary, those who say politics does matter argue that parties exert a strong and even determining influence on government decision making (Parsons, 1995, pp 214-18). One way of reconciliation is considering that the environment does matter, and political parties might be more important in contexts where other structures of mediation are weak, as is the case of most Latin American countries. In the particular case of Mexico, political parties have been key protagonists of the transition to democracy and have become crucial actors in the policymaking process, as politics here is basically structured by political parties (Moreno, 2010).

Additionally, the type of parties also matters in terms of policy. According to Jones (2005), institutionalized party systems tend to be programmatic, which means that parties compete and obtain political support on the basis of their differences in terms of public policy. They are then responsible for developing policy research and policy choices, which are presented and discussed during campaigns. However, institutionalized parties can also be clientelistic, which means that they compete on the basis of selective distribution of benefits among voters (like jobs in the public sector, economic resources or food) and are judged by citizens based on their capacity to deliver them (Jones, 2005, pp 33-4). The policymaking process in clientelistic systems is then shaped by parties’ necessity to maintain the system of political support. The contemporary political landscape in Mexico is shaped by an institutionalized multiparty system and democratic elections in principle, a presidential system with a federal Congress with no majority party since 1997, and 10 political parties officially recognized at national level. At the local level, political power is also distributed among different parties and coalitions. Due to numerous electoral reforms, Mexican political parties are generously financed and have free and permanent access to media, especially during elections. Despite changes, Mexico has a strong clientelistic structure that is particularly effective during elections.