The Country Report on quality of citizenship, carried out by the National Electoral Institute (INE) alongside El Colegio de México showed that in Mexico, most of the general population does not trust institutions or political organizations – except for the Army -. During the presentation of this report, Lorenzo Córdova, leader of INE, highlighted the need for building a national policy of civic education. Beyond the fact that the report shows a universal distrust of Mexican citizenship, it is worth noting that Córdova’s vision sees the rebuilding of the social fabric as a duty of the State.
According to the report’s conclusions, Mexico is living through a crisis of confidence that could lead to the destruction of its social cohesion. The alarming lack of trust and apathy from Mexican population to their elected officers and institutions has been a constant concern that still lingers on today. The 2013 Survey of Government Quality and Impact, carried out by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), revealed that 12% of those surveyed have witnessed an act of corruption at a public sector level. On the other hand, the national survey of the demised Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) on Quality of Citizenship showed that 70% of individuals reported a lack of trust in each other. Thus, it is worth asking what has led to such a high level of distrust within Mexican society.
According to the INE report, when the issue of citizenship comes out, the real matter that is being discussed is political participation. In that sense, a country has managed to build a citizenship when their inhabitants have the possibility to influence decision-makers while also being able to be appointed in government posts. Although Mexico’s democratic transition led to the creation of several institutions and laws in order to promote the general population’s political participation, in reality, there are few tools that enable the exercise of citizenship. That is to say, although in paper Mexico has a progressive legal framework, in practice most of these laws never see the light (or at least, they are never within reach of the everyday citizen), something that in addition to the growing insecurity and impunity, weakens the trust on the authorities and, thus, citizen participation.
What has been lacking in this discourse is that citizenship that can be strengthened in an open economy as well as a competitive environment. In that sense, the lack of economic competition hinders the resources that come from the private sector and from which civic organizations may be able to access. This is not a minor issue given that government institutions need a real counterweight, as a way that citizens may be able to expose abuses and hold their rulers accountable. In other words, Mexico does not need a government that promotes citizenship. It requires measures that will ease economic activities and set out institutions as a way to enable social mobility.
The State should provide the organized civil society with a greater normativity instead of policies that encourage “building a citizenship”; however, if there is not already a society that is willing to demand greater trust and accountability from their authorities, it will be a difficult task to have the government – using more laws and institutions – build it on its own.
It would be worth taking a look at the work of the INE advisors, who might focus not so much in the creation of new programs but in the continuity and strengthening of the current ones. After all, according to INE itself, the trust in electoral authorities is only of 34%.
CIDAC
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