The professionalization of election campaigning in Mexico: a study on continuity and change in presidential campaign practices and communications (1988-2006)

Díaz Jiménez, Oniel Francisco (2012). The professionalization of election campaigning in Mexico: a study on continuity and change in presidential campaign practices and communications (1988-2006). University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

This thesis seeks to fill a gap in the literature on Mexican politics relating to the analysis of major recent changes in campaign tactics and strategies (usually referred to as ‘campaign professionalisation’) and their causes. I argue that the Mexican experience may shed light on the factors driving the professionalisation of electoral campaigns in new democracies, particularly on the causal role of a number of systemic and party-level variables. Building on the comparative literature on party and campaign change, and using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), this study shows that the professionalisation of presidential campaigns in Mexico was not only driven by the demands of large-scale changes in the Mexican party and media systems during democratisation on candidates’ campaign organisations, but also, to a significant extent, by a number of parties’ organisational features and resources. The argument of the thesis is that while party-specific factors are not the ultimate causes of campaign innovations, they are key mediating conditions between broader systemic changes on the one hand, and campaign behaviour on the other. They are therefore crucial in order to explain cross-party differences in the extent of the adoption of professionalised campaigning in Mexico.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

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