Prospects for Revolution in Mexico

The issue this paper examines is whether the political, economic, security, and social situations in Mexico today are permissive for a second Mexican Revolution. The thesis of the paper was the Mexican Revolution occurred due to a lack of representative government within Mexico and social unrest caused by economic and ethnic unrest. The Mexican revolution ended with the establishment of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) as the controlling party with trappings of elections every 7 years, but with little real change in distribution of wealth or power in relation to ethnic status. Mexico has experienced several insurgencies in the last 20 years, driven primarily by indigenous unrest, and faces new security challenges from the rise in power and influence of drug cartels. Also, recent controversy surrounding the 2006 elections lead to shows of protests in urban areas. However, in spite of all the issues faced by Mexico today, Mexico is not poised for wide scale popular uprising.