Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: The Party's Over: Citizen Disenchantment in Mexico's Emerging Democracy

本博士论文研究项目研究墨西哥人对政治的态度及其对民主巩固的影响。具体来说，它试图确定(1)区分对民主的支持与政府绩效的倾向是否与民主概念中社会经济期望的突出地位有关；(2)是否存在条件——特别是新公民价值观的发展——来软化社会经济表现不佳对支持民主和政治参与的影响。对民意测验（现有的和原来的）的统计分析将提供对政治态度和参与的广泛了解。定量调查必须以举报人和焦点小组提供的证明证据充实。或许，一种新的“公民”政治文化已经足够根深蒂固，可以防止对真正存在的民主的不满转变为对民主理想的拒绝。一长串的政治思想和实证研究认为，民主的生存和发展取决于一个知情的、积极的、相信和实践民主价值观的公民的基础。在旧的民主政体中，民主建立在稳定的制度和经济繁荣的基础之上，这两个条件都有利于民主习惯的发展。本项目的学术价值在于阐明了减轻新兴民主国家社会经济预期失败对民主支持的影响的因素，新兴民主国家通常缺乏老牌民主国家的优势。本文将阐明政治学中的一个重要辩论：民主巩固是否主要取决于经济，还是公众舆论和公民民主概念是否也会干预，以及如何干预。更广泛的影响本论文的研究将有利于研究界，并可能潜在地有利于墨西哥社会，在三个主要方面。在方法上，该调查工具将提供新的项目来衡量对民主的态度，询问对民主的满意度、支持程度和民主的概念，比任何现有的调查都要广泛得多。这可以帮助研究者在其他民主国家的背景下研究民意、政治心理学和民主化，无论是旧的还是新的。从本质上讲，所产生的发现应该适用于墨西哥以外的地区，因为它面临着新兴民主国家典型的社会经济挑战。最后，这项研究可能会对墨西哥的政策产生影响。墨西哥的研究人员——以及墨西哥政府，通过它资助的民意调查——对回答这里提出的一些问题表现出了浓厚的兴趣。目前，联邦选举研究所和内政部（政府秘书处）正在公立学校和传播媒介开展教育运动，以帮助促进容忍、减少歧视、提高选民投票率和提高对人权的认识。公民对政治和决策者的看法，他们希望改善培养公民价值观的项目。

This Doctoral Dissertation research project studies Mexican attitudes toward politics and their implications for democratic consolidation. Specifically, it seeks to determine (1) whether the proclivity to distinguish support for democracy from government performance is related to the prominence of socioeconomic expectations in conceptions of democracy and (2) whether conditions exist-particularly, the development of new citizen values-to soften the impact of poor socioeconomic performance on support for democracy and political participation. Statistical analysis of opinion polls (both existing and original) will provide a broad understanding of political attitudes and participation. The quantitative investigation must be fleshed out with testimonial evidence provided by informants and focus groups. It may be that a new, "citizen" political culture is sufficiently rooted to prevent dissatisfaction with really existing democracy from turning into rejection of democracy as an ideal. Intellectual Merit A long line of political thought and empirical research contends that the survival and growth of democracy rests on the foundation of an informed, active citizenry that believes in and practices democratic values. In the old democratic polities, democracy rests upon a foundation of stable institutions and economic prosperity, both conditions propitious for the development of democratic habits on the party of the citizenry. The intellectual merit of the present project lies in elucidating the factors that mitigate the impact of failed socioeconomic expectations on support for democracy in emerging democracies, which typically lack the advantages of the older democracies. The dissertation will shed light on an important debate in political science: whether democratic consolidation depends mostly on economics or whether, and how, public opinion and citizen concepts of democracy also intervene. Broader Impact This dissertation research will benefit the research community, and could potentially benefit Mexican society, in three main ways. Methodologically, the survey instrument will offer new items to measure attitudes toward democracy, asking about satisfaction with, support for democracy, and conceptions of democracy much more extensively than any existing survey. This could help researchers public opinion, political psychology, and democratization in the context of other democracies, old and new. Substantively, the findings generated should be applicable outside Mexico, since it faces socioeconomic challenges typical of emerging democracies. Finally, the research could have policy ramifications in Mexico. Mexican researchers-as well as the Mexican government, through the polls it has financed-have demonstrated keen interest in answering some of the questions raised here. At present, both the Federal Electoral Institute and the Interior Ministry (Secretaria de Gobernacion) are undertaking educational campaigns in public schools and the communications media to help foster tolerance, abate discrimination, promote voter turnout, and raise awareness of human rights. citizen views of politics and policy-makers who desire to improve programs that foster citizen values.