Political cycles and change of the Mexican party system. The 2018 elections in retrospect

Abstract

Since the first political alternation in the early 21st century up until just before the 2018 concurrent election, the Mexican political system had consolidated its competition structure around three dominant parties; but where only the PRI and the PAN had alternated into the Executive Power. It was precisely in the 2018 elections when a landmark occurred in the trajectory of both the political and party systems with the emergence of a new left political party (MORENA) and its entry into government. This article analyzes the 2018 general election considering the evolution of political competition from two perspectives. The first one focuses on the trajectories and changes in the structure of the party system; and the second one, on the political power conformation and its effects until the last elections. The investigation concludes that the 2018 elections are the beginning of a new political cycle that consolidates a political left project through which Mexico enters into the processes of Latin American ideological transition and they show the existence of competition cycles in the party system.