Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T05:28:28.588Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Fragmentation of Power and the Emergence of an Effective Judiciary in Mexico, 1994–2002

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Julio Ríos-Figueroa
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Legal reforms that make judges independent from political pressures and empower them with judicial review do not make an effective judiciary. Something has to fill the gap between institutional design and effectiveness. When the executive and legislative powers react to an objectionable judicial decision, the judiciary may be weak and deferential; but coordination difficulties between the elected branches can loosen the constraints on courts. This article argues that the fragmentation of political power can enable a judiciary to rule against power holders' interests without being systematically challenged or ignored. This argument is tested with an analysis of the Mexican Supreme Court decisions against the PRI on constitutional cases from 1994 to 2002. The probability of the court's voting against the PRI increased as the PRI lost the majority in the Chamber of Deputies in 1997 and the presidency in 2000.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , Volume 49 , Issue 1 , Spring 2007 , pp. 31 - 57
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baker, Richard D. 1971. Judicial Review in Mexico: A Study of the Amparo Suit. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Robert, Barros. 2002. Constitutionalism and Dictatorship: Pinochet, the Junta, and the 1980 Constitution. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Jenna, Bednar, Eskridge, William, and Ferejohn, John. 2001. A Political Theory of Federalism. In Constitutional Culture and Democratic Rule, ed. Ferejohn, Jack N. Rakove, and Riley, Jonathan. New York: Cambridge University Press. 223–69.Google Scholar
Susana, Berruecos. 2003. Electoral Justice in Mexico: the Role of the Electoral Tribunal under New Federalism. Journal of Latin American Studies 35, 3: 801–25.Google Scholar
Stanton, Burnett, and Mantovani, Luca. 1998. The Italian Guillotine. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Caldeira, Gregory A., and Gibson, James L.. 1992. The Etiology of Public Support for the Supreme Court. American Journal of Political Science 36 (August): 639–41.Google Scholar
Maria Amparo, Casar. 2002. Executive-Legislative Relations: The Case of Mexico (1946–1997). In Legislative Politics in Latin America, ed. Nacif, Benito and Morgenstern, Scott. New York: Cambridge University Press. 114–45.Google Scholar
Centro de Investigación para el Desarrollo, A.C. (CIDAC). Database on Federal Elections 1964–2006, and on Local Elections 1980–2005 (Base de Datos: Elecciones Federales 1964–2006, Elecciones Locales 19802005). <http://www.cidac.org> Accessed December 1, 2006.+Accessed+December+1,+2006.>Google Scholar
Rebecca Bill, Chávez. 2004. The Rule of Law in Nascent Democracies: Judicial Politics in Argentina. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Cooter, Robert D., and Ginsburg, Tom. 1996. Comparative Judicial Discretion: an Empirical Test of Economic Models. International Review of Law and Economics 16: 295–313.Google Scholar
Díaz, Cossío, Ramón, José. 2000. Comentario al Artículo 105 Constitucional. In Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos. Comentada y condordada, coord. Miguel Carbonell. Mexico City: Porrúa/UNAM. Vol. 4: 120–45.Google Scholar
Díaz, Cossío, Ramón, José. 2001. La Suprema Corte y la teoria constitucional. Política y Gobierno 8, 1: 61–115.Google Scholar
Pilar, Domingo. 2000. Judicial Independence: the Politics of the Supreme Court in Mexico. Journal of Latin American Studies 32, 3: 705–35.Google Scholar
David, Easton. 1975. A Re-Assessment of the Concept of Popular Support. British Journal of Political Science 5: 435–57.Google Scholar
Lee, Epstein, and Knight, Jack. 1996. On the Struggle for Judicial Supremacy. Law and Society Review 30, 1: 87–130.Google Scholar
Lee, Epstein, Knight, Jack, and Shvetsova, Olga. 2001. The Role of Constitutional Courts in the Establishment of Democratic Systems of Government. Law and Society Review, 35, 1: 117–67.Google Scholar
John, Ferejohn. 2002. Judicializing Politics, Politicizing Law. Law and Contemporary Problems 41, 65 (Summer): 41–68.Google Scholar
John, Ferejohn, and Weingast, Barry. 1992. A Positive Theory of Statutory Interpretation. International Review of Law and Economics 12: 263–79.Google Scholar
Finkel, Jodi S. 2003. Supreme Court Decisions on Electoral Rules after Mexico's 1994 Constitutional Reform: an Empowered Court. Journal of Latin American Studies 35, 3: 777–99.Google Scholar
Finkel, . 2004. Judicial Reform as Insurance Policy: Mexico in the 1990s. Latin American Politics and Society 46, 4 (Winter): 87–113.Google Scholar
Héctor, Fix-Fierro. 1998. Judicial Reform and the Supreme Court of Mexico: the Trajectory of Three Years. United States-Mexico Law Journal 6 (Spring): 1–21.Google Scholar
Héctor, Fix-Zamudio. 1999. Ensayos sobre el derecho de amparo. Mexico City: Porrúa/UNAM.Google Scholar
Laura, Flamand. 2004. The Vertical Dimension of Government: Democratization and Federalism in Mexico. Ph.D. diss., University of Rochester.Google Scholar
Barry, Friedman. 2000. The History of the Countermajoritarian Difficulty, Part Four: Law's Politics. University of Pennsylvania Law Review 148, 4 (April): 971–1064.Google Scholar
Barry, Friedman. 2001. The History of the Countermajoritarian Difficulty, Part Three: the Lesson of Lochner. New York University Law Review 76, 5 (Spring): 1383–1455.Google Scholar
Gibson, James L., and Caldeira, Gregory A.. 1995. The Legitimacy of Transnational Legal Institutions: Compliance, Support, and the European Court of Justice. American Journal of Political Science 39, 3: 459–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Damodar, Gujarati. 2003. Basic Econometrics. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Alexander, Hamilton, Madison, James, and Jay, John.. 2001 [1787]. The Federalist: A Commentary on the Constitution of the United States. New York: Modern Library.Google Scholar
Gretchen, Helmke. 2002. The Logic of Strategic Defection: Court-Executive Relations in Argentina under Democracy and Dictatorship. American Political Science Review 96, 2 (June): 305–20.Google Scholar
Matias, Iaryczower, Spiller, Pablo, and Tomassi, Mariano. 2002. Judicial Decision-Making in Unstable Environments. American Journal of Political Science 46, 4: 699–716.Google Scholar
Silvia, Inclán. 2004. Judicial Reform and Democratization: Mexico in the 1990s. Ph.D. diss., Boston University.Google Scholar
Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales (IIS). 2001. Encuesta nacional sobe la reelección e impartición de justicia en México. Mexico City: Unidad de Estudios sobre la Opinión, Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales, Unam.Google Scholar
Instituto Federal Electoral (IFE). Data on state and federal elections. <http://www.ife.org.mx> Accessed December 1, 2006.+Accessed+December+1,+2006.>Google Scholar
Gary, King, Tomz, Michael, and Wittenberg, Jason 2000. Making the Most of Statistical Analysis: Improving Interpretation and Presentation. American Journal of Political Science 44, 2: 341–55.Google Scholar
Ferdinand, Lassalle. 1997 [1862]. Qué es una constitución? Mexico City: Ediciones Coyoacán.Google Scholar
Beatriz, Magaloni. 2003. Authoritarianism, Democracy and the Supreme Court: Horizontal Exchange and the Rule of Law in Mexico. In Democratic Accountability in Latin America, ed. Mainwaring, Scott and Welna, Christopher. New York: Oxford University Press. 266–305.Google Scholar
Beatriz, Magaloni, and Sánchez, Arianna 2001. Empowering Courts as Constitutional Veto Players: Presidential Delegation and the New Mexican Supreme Court. Paper presented at the 97th meeting of the American Political Science Association, San Francisco, August 30-September 2.Google Scholar
Bernard, Manin. 1989. Montesquieu. In A Critical Dictionary of the French Revolution, ed. Furet, François and Ozouf, Mona. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Bernard, Manin.. 1997. Checks, Balances and Boundaries: The Separation of Powers in the Constitutional Debate of 1787. In The Invention of the Modern Republic, ed. Fontana, Biancamaria. New York: Cambridge University Press. 27–62.Google Scholar
Juan, Molinar Horcasitas. 1996. Changing the Balance of Power in a Hegemonic Party System: The Case of Mexico. In Institutional Design in New Democracies, ed. Lijphart, Arend and Weismann, Carlos Boulder: Westview Press. 137–60.Google Scholar
Montesquieu, . 1977 [1748]. The Spirit of the Laws: A Compendium of the First English Edition. Edited with an introduction by David Wallace Carrithers. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Benito, Nacif. 2002. Understanding Party Discipline in the Mexican Chamber of Deputies: The Centralized Party Model. In Legislative Politics in Latin America, ed. Nacif, and Morgenstern, Scott New York: Cambridge University Press. 254–85.Google Scholar
Patricio, Navia, and Ríos-Figueroa, Julio. 2005. The Constitutional Adjudication Mosaic of Latin America. Comparative Political Studies 38, 2: 189–217.Google Scholar
Observatorio Electoral Latinoamericano. <http://www.observatorioelectoral.org>..>Google Scholar
Guillermo, O'Donnell. 2000. The Judiciary and the Rule of Law. Journal of Democracy 11, 1: 25–31.Google Scholar
Pasquale, Pasquino. 2001. One and Three: Separation of Powers and the Independence of the Judiciary in the Italian Constitution. In Constitutional Culture and Democratic Rule, ed. Ferejohn, John, Jack N, Rakove., and Riley, Jonathan. New York: Cambridge University Press. 205–22.Google Scholar
Andrea, Pozas-Loyo. 2005. Unilateral and Multilateral Constitutions. Paper presented to the workshop “Constitutions and Constitutionalism,” Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, November 18–19.Google Scholar
Adam, Przeworski. 2002. Foreword. In Barros, 2002. xi–xiv.Google Scholar
Ramseyer, Mark J., and Rasmusen, Eric B.. 2003. Measuring Judicial Independence: The Political Economy of Judging in Japan. Chicago: Chicago University Press.Google Scholar
Alain de, Remes. 2000. Base de datos electoral a nivel municipal 1980–1999. Actualización del propio autor en 2000 de acuerdo a los datos proporcionados por los institutos electorales estatales. Mexico City: CIDE.Google Scholar
Julio, Ríos-Figueroa. 2004. El surgimiento de un poder judicial efectivo en México: gobierno dividido y toma de decisiones en la Suprema Corte de Justicia, 1994–2002. In Trabajos ganadores del octavo certamen nacional de ensayo Francisco I. Madero. El poder judicial en la transición y consolidación democrática en México. Y cómo ven y-ó cómo viven los ciudadanos las campañas político-electorales 2003. Mexico City: Instituto Federal Electoral.Google Scholar
Rosenberg, Gerald N. 1992. Judicial Independence and the Reality of Political Power. Review of Politics 54 (Summer): 369–98.Google Scholar
Druscilla, Scribner. 2002. Executive Accountability: Juridical Control of Presidential Decree Authority in Chile. Paper presented at the 61st Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference, Chicago, April 27–30.Google Scholar
Pablo, Spiller, and Gely, Rafael. 1990. A Rational Choice Theory of Supreme Court Statutory Decisions with Applications to the State Farm and Grove City Cases. Journal of Law, Economics and Organization 6, 2: 263–300.Google Scholar
Staton, Jeffrey K. 2002. Judicial Decision-Making and Public Authority Compliance: the Role of Public Support in the Mexican Separation of Powers System. Ph.D. diss., Washington University, St. Louis.Google Scholar
Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (SCJN). Summary of the Plenary Sessions. <http://www.scjn.gob.mx> Accessed December 1, 2006.+Accessed+December+1,+2006.>Google Scholar
Taylor, Michael C. 1997. Why No Rule of Law in Mexico? Explaining the Weakness of Mexico's Judicial Branch. New Mexico Law Review 27, 1 (Winter): 141–66.Google Scholar
George, Tsebelis. 2002. Veto Players: How Political Institutions Work. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Georg, Vanberg. 2000. Establishing Judicial Independence in West Germany: the Impact of Opinion Leadership and the Separation of Powers. Comparative Politics 32, 3: 333–60.Google Scholar
Vile, M. C. J. 1967. Constitutionalism and Separation of Powers. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Jeffrey, Weldon. 1997. The Political Sources of Presidentialism in Mexico. In Presidentialism and Democracy in Latin America, ed. Mainwairing, Scott and Shugart, Matthew New York: Cambridge University Press. 225–58.Google Scholar
Alicia Eli, Yamín, and Noriega, Ma. Pilar. 1999. The Absence of the Rule of Law in Mexico: Diagnosis and Implications for a Mexican Transition to Democracy. Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Journal 21, 3: 467–520.Google Scholar
Stephen, Zamora, and Cossío, José Ramón 2006. Mexican Constitutionalism after Presidencialismo. ICON: Institutional Journal of Constitutional Law 4, 2: 411–37.Google Scholar
Zovatto, Daniel G. 2001. Valores, percepciones y actitudes hacia la democracia. Una visión comparada latinoamericana 1996–2001. Available at <http://www.observatorioelectoral.org> Accessed December 1, 2006.+Accessed+December+1,+2006.>Google Scholar