Latin America must balance these three forces. In the past civil society was not properly taken into account. Now it must be included in the equation if second generation reforms are to succeed. This is starting to be understood. Research shows that a country with a strong civil society is much more likely to develop and consolidate its democracy.
Democracy needs to be understood as more than just elections.
The United States can play a key role in this process by lending economic and technical assistance. This economic reform has been accompanied more recently by electoral reforms. In a way, it is too early to tell, but the fact that the election is now too close demonstrates that the reforms have succeeded. But there is a lot of concern about the results being too close. The leading opposition candidate Vicente Fox has stated he would not recognize a PRI victory of less than 10 points.