page_title: Delegative democracy
section_title: Institutional Revolutionary Party
hierarchical_section_title: Delegative democracy / Case studies / Institutional Revolutionary Party
caption_attribution_description: Español: logotipo institucional del pri
context_page_description: In political science, delegative democracy is a mode of governance close to Caesarism, Bonapartism or caudillismo with a strong leader in a newly created otherwise democratic government. The concept arose from Argentinian political scientist Guillermo O'Donnell, who notes that representative democracy as it exists is usually linked solely to highly developed capitalist countries. However, newly installed democracies do not seem to be on a path of becoming fully representative democracies. O'Donnell calls the former delegative democracies, for they are not fully consolidated democracies but may be enduring.
  For a representative democracy to exist, there must be an important interaction effect. The successful cases have featured a decisive coalition of broadly supported political leaders who take great care in creating and strengthening democratic political institutions. By contrast, the delegative form is partially democratic, for the president has a free rein to act and justify his or her acts in the name of the people. The president can “govern as he sees fit” even if it does not resemble what he/she promised while running for election.
context_section_description: The Institutional Revolutionary Party  (Spanish: Partido Revolucionario Institucional, PRI) in Mexico is an example of a party that led to a rise of delegative democracy within a country. The PRI came into power in 1929 with the help of Plutarco Elías Calles, a Mexican general and politician. Prior to the rise of the PRI, the country was plagued with political conflict and turmoil due to the assassination of President-elect Álvaro Obregón in 1928. One of the renowned symbols of the PRI is the dedazo (termed from the word dedo - finger).This symbolized the idea that the current president would pass down the title to whoever they "pointed the finger" to. This process alone shows why delegative democracy takes away the ideas of separation of powers as the democratic process in the people electing their officials is removed. In addition, instead of being checked and balanced by other branches, the president had a select group of cabinet advisers that consisted of at least three individuals extremely close to the president.
  In 1988, the PRI slowly began to dissolve after multiple progression and the breaking out of the parties "Democratic Current" with Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas (former Governor of Michoacán and son of the former president of Mexico Lázaro Cárdenas).
caption: Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) logo.
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