The constitutionally autonomous bodies continue to be present; yes with some co-option some, but not at a dramatically higher level than what we were used to with previous governments.
The electoral competition is still in force, as we could see in the elections of last June, and in those of 2019 and 2020. The 2018 election was atypical, but little by little the local electoral dynamics are recovering their course.
Unfortunately, what is still absent is that all actors in society assume our role and our obligation to strengthen democracy in Mexico. Citizen participation is lacking, actors with social legitimacy are lacking.
To speak that the president is ending democracy is to surrender to our responsibilities to keep it healthy and firm. It’s the easy way out. It is to ignore the entire institutional framework that has been achieved in the last 40 years.
Of course, there is still a long way to go to consolidate our democracy, but it does not only depend on the government in turn. The main responsibility is ours, of all actors in society.
Not even in the hegemonic era was there a total absence of democracy, as many say, nor did democracy begin in 2000 as others say, nor is there a search today to return to that much-talked-about model, which is nothing more than a highly personal interpretation of that model.
We make democracy and we all destroy it. May these reflection dates serve to think on which side of history we want to be as a society.
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Editor’s note: The opinions in this article are the sole responsibility of the author.