Abstract

MONSIVAIS-CARRILLO, Alejandro. Populism, disinformation, and electoral integrity in Mexico. Elecciones [online]. 2023, vol.22, n.25, pp.151-184.  Epub June 30, 2023. ISSN 1994-5272.  http://dx.doi.org/10.53557/elecciones.2023.v22n25.05.

Building a normative and institutional framework to hold free and fair elections was decisive to establish democracy in Mexico. In this country, the norms and institutions of electoral governance have been reformed in response to the demands of the contending parties. As a result, electoral governance became an independent and professionalized system that has progressively strengthened the electoral integrity. However, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (Amlo) has put into question all these advances achieved in more than two decades. The Amlo administration accused electoral authorities of being complicit in electoral fraud, claimed that the cost of elections is excessive, and promoted comprehensive electoral reforms to establish an “authentic democracy”. However, this article contends that these government claims are part of a strategy to transform electoral governance into a populist system. The analysis shows that Amlo spread political disinformation and tried to revert the institutional guarantees associated with electoral integrity to benefit his own political project. This article is a contribution to study the strategies deployed by populist leaders who, under the pretension of being committed to electoral integrity, advance reforms that aim in the opposite direction.

Keywords : Electoral integrity; populism; disinformation; polarization; democracy; Mexico.

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