This book is a most comprehensive explanation of Mexico's gradual transition to democracy.

Figures and tables; Acknowledgements; 1. Electoral courts and actor compliance: opposition-authoritarian relations and protracted transitions; 2. Ties that bind and even constrict: why authoritarians tolerate electoral reforms; 3. Mexico's national electoral justice success: from oxymoron to legal norm in just over a decade; 4. Mexico's local electoral justice failures: gubernatorial (s)election beyond the shadows of the law; 5. The gap between law and practice: institutional failure and opposition success in postelectoral conflicts, 1989-2000; 6. The National Action Party: dilemmas of rightist oppositions defined by authoritarian collusion; 7. The party of the democratic revolution: from postelectoral movements to electoral competitors; 8. Dedazo from the center to finger pointing from the periphery: PRI hard-liners challenge Mexico's electoral institutions; 9. A quarter century of 'Mexicanization': lessons from a protracted transition; Appendices; Bibliography; Index.