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News Release

Last modified: Friday, June 30, 2006

MEDIA ADVISORY

There is much more at stake than the presidency in Mexico's upcoming presidential elections

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 30, 2006

EDITOR'S NOTE: Mexico will go to the polls Sunday (July 2) to vote for its next president who will serve a six-year term running from 2006-2012. Armando Razo, assistant professor in the IU Bloomington Department of Political Science and the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, will be available to comment on the election's impact on Mexico on Monday, July 3.

Mexican voters will go to the polls Sunday, July 2, to elect a new president from a pool of five candidates. In a country once dominated by a one-party government that determined electoral outcomes well in advance, no one knows who will win the presidency for the upcoming six-year term. More than 70 million voters will decide the outcome in a race with no clear winner.

Armando Razo, assistant professor in the IU Bloomington Department of Political Science and the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, says that while the close presidential race has generated much attention, what is at stake is in the election is Mexico's long-term development.

Key quote from Razo: "Anyone who sees the election of a particular candidate as a cure for Mexico's problems will be quickly disappointed for two major reasons. First, Sunday's elections are general ones, including not just the presidency, but the renewal of the bicameral congress, along with some gubernatorial races, including the election of a new mayor for Mexico City. It is the combined outcome of the general elections that will affect policymaking and governance in the short-run, not just the campaign promises of any given candidate. More importantly, the second reason is that Mexico's problems require long-term strategies that extend well beyond the next six years."

For complete comments, go to: https://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/3675.html

Biography
Razo's research interests are in the field of comparative politics, with a concentration on the political economy of development. His research and teaching center around two themes: How political institutions in developing countries affect economic performance; and the study of political institutions and political organization in dictatorships. He teaches courses in comparative politics, Latin American politics, positive political economy, and statistical methods. Currently, he is working on a book manuscript about social networks and political institutions in dictatorships. He is co-author with Stephen Haber and Noel Maurer of The Politics of Property Rights (2003), published by Cambridge University Press. He has published articles in World Politics, the Journal of Economic History, and the Journal of Latin American Studies.

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