Pan's Support In Northern Mexico: Cultural And Historical Roots

The National Action Party (PAN) is a conservative Mexican political party with close ties to the Roman Catholic Church. It was founded in 1939 to represent the interests of business and the Church, which had been stripped of legal recognition in 1917. The PAN has traditionally enjoyed strong support in the country's wealthiest and most urbanized regions of the north, particularly in the Federal District, Jalisco, Nuevo León, Puebla, and Sonora. The party's early support derived primarily from the Roman Catholic Church, the business sector, and other groups alienated by the left-wing populist reforms of the Cárdenas government.

The National Action Party's (PAN) conservative and Christian-democratic identity

The National Action Party (PAN) is a conservative Mexican political party with close ties to the Roman Catholic Church. It was founded in 1939 by Manuel Gómez Morín, a devout believer who rejected liberalism and individualism. The PAN's "Doctrine of National Action" was strongly influenced by Catholic social doctrine articulated in Rerum novarum (1891) and Quadragesimo anno (1931) and rejected Marxist models of class warfare. The party's newspaper, La Nación, was founded by former Catholic student activist Carlos Séptien García.

The PAN was founded to represent the interests of business and the Roman Catholic Church, which had been stripped of legal recognition in 1917. It drew its support largely from the urban middle class and northern parts of the country. The party generally supports minimal government intervention in the economy and has campaigned for the breakup of communal ejidos into individually owned plots of land.

The PAN has traditionally had strong support in the country's wealthiest and most urbanized regions of the north and centre, particularly in the Federal District, Jalisco, Nuevo León, Puebla, and Sonora. The effects of PAN victories in the northern part of the country since the 1980s are highly significant, especially in the states of Baja California Norte, Chihuahua, Durango, Nuevo León, Sinaloa, and Sonora.

While the PAN is much more conservative than the PRI on social issues, its economic program has been almost indistinguishable from that of the PRI since the mid-1980s. The PAN has also stressed the need for democratization, the eradication of government corruption, and additional electoral reforms to distance itself from the PRI.

The PAN has similarities with Europe and Latin America's Christian democratic parties. The party theory, rejecting a fundamental adherence to right or left-wing politics, is held within a strongly Christian context and falls under the umbrella of Christian democracy. However, some observers consider the PAN's claim to National Action politics to be weakened by the apparent persistent predominance of conservatism in its policies.

PAN's support from the urban middle class

The National Action Party (PAN) has traditionally derived its support from the urban middle class in the northern parts of Mexico. The party was founded in 1939 to represent the interests of business and the Roman Catholic Church, which had been stripped of legal recognition in 1917. PAN's early support came primarily from the Church, the business sector, and other groups alienated by the left-wing populist reforms of the Cárdenas government.

The party's base has typically been in the country's wealthiest and most urbanised regions of the north and centre, particularly in the Federal District, Jalisco, Nuevo León, Puebla, and Sonora. The effects of PAN victories in the northern part of the country since the 1980s are highly significant, especially in the states of Baja California Norte, Chihuahua, Durango, Nuevo León, Sinaloa, and Sonora. The party has also displayed political strength in the states of Guanajuato, Jalisco, and Yucatán.

The PAN's major handicap has been its lack of appeal to urban labour and peasant groups. The party has been criticised for being pro-business and pro-Catholic, which has limited its support among a wider range of voters. However, as the party became more secular and as Mexicans increasingly moved to cities, the PAN began to attract a broader base of supporters.

In the 1980s, the PAN began to transform from a weak opposition party to a political power, starting at the local and state levels in the North of Mexico. This transformation was driven by the party's outspoken allegations of electoral fraud against the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and its calls for democratisation, an end to fraud in Mexican elections, and the eradication of government corruption.

In 1989, the PAN secured its first governorship in the state of Baja California Norte. In the 1990s, the PAN's support of the PRI's economic reforms harmed its performance in some locales, as large numbers of Mexicans opposed these policies. However, the party continued to make gains at the state and municipal levels, winning governorships and congressional majorities in Baja California Norte and Chihuahua, and the governorship of Guanajuato.

In the 2000 presidential election, the PAN's candidate, Vicente Fox, won the presidency, ending 71 years of rule by the PRI. This victory was attributed to public dissatisfaction with the PRI over the economy and corruption, as well as the PAN's growing support from the urban middle class in northern Mexico.

PAN's opposition to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)

The National Action Party (PAN) was founded in 1939 to oppose the expansion of power by the post-revolutionary Mexican state. It was the first genuine opposition party to develop in Mexico and was created to represent the interests of business and the Roman Catholic Church. The PAN's opposition to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) can be summarised in the following points:

• The PAN was formed to oppose the nationalisations and land confiscations undertaken by the Cárdenas government during the 1930s.
• The PAN was more conservative than the PRI on social issues.
• The PAN traditionally favoured a limited role for the government in the economy, whereas the PRI moved towards the centre-right of the political spectrum during the 1980s, with policies including privatisation and embracing free-market capitalism.
• The PAN had strong support in the country's wealthiest and most urbanised regions of the north and centre, whereas the PRI had absolute power over the country for most of the twentieth century.
• The PAN was outspoken in its allegations of electoral fraud against the PRI, which used electoral fraud, co-option, and political repression to hold power.
• The PAN supported democratisation, the eradication of government corruption, and additional electoral reforms, which were lacking under the PRI.
• The PAN supported free enterprise and free trade agreements, whereas the PRI controlled the economy through state-owned companies and businesses heavily reliant on government contracts.
• The PAN was opposed to same-sex unions in Mexico, whereas the PRI supported measures to establish civil unions.

PAN's presence in local government

The Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) is a conservative Mexican political party with close ties to the Roman Catholic Church. It was founded in 1939 to represent the interests of business and the Catholic Church, which had been stripped of legal recognition in 1917. The party draws its support largely from the urban middle class and in the northern parts of the country.

In the 1980s, the PAN began a transformation to a political power, starting at the local and state levels in the North of Mexico. In 1989, the PAN secured its first governorship when it won the state of Baja California Norte. By the mid-1990s, the PAN provided six of Mexico's 32 governors. In 1994, the PAN presidential candidate captured more than 25% of the vote, and the party's representation in both houses of the legislature expanded.

The PAN candidate in the 2000 presidential election was Vicente Fox, who won the presidency, ending 71 years of rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). The PAN formed the largest bloc in the Chamber of Deputies. In 2006, Felipe Calderón, a longtime PAN member, won the presidency. However, in 2012, the PAN lost the presidential election to Enrique Peña Nieto of the PRI.

Currently, PAN remains the strongest opposition party in Congress and is still a significant player at the state and municipal levels. It provides around 400 of the country's 2,500 mayors and nine out of 32 governors. PAN governments have been brought closer together due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as they have had to find individual solutions for their states and adopt a joint position towards the national government.

PAN's ability to attract supporters

The National Action Party (PAN) was founded in 1939 by Manuel Gómez Morín, a leading intellectual figure in the 1920s, and Efraín González Luna, a prominent lawyer and Catholic lay leader from Guadalajara. The party was formed to oppose the policies of President Lázaro Cárdenas (1934-1940) and to provide an alternative to the National Revolutionary Party (PNR). PAN's core support base has traditionally been in the country's wealthiest and most urbanized regions of the north and centre, particularly in the Federal District, Jalisco, Nuevo León, Puebla, and Sonora.

In the 1980s, PAN began to make inroads in Northern Mexico, winning gubernatorial elections and gaining a foothold in local parliaments. This success can be attributed to the party's ability to attract urban middle-class voters, particularly academics and entrepreneurs, who appreciated PAN's pro-business stance and its calls for democratization and an end to government corruption.

PAN's support base also includes younger, well-educated, middle-class voters, especially in the north and west-central areas. The party has been able to appeal to this demographic by advocating for free enterprise, pragmatism, small government, privatization, and libertarian reforms.

Additionally, PAN has been able to attract independent voters and defectors from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). This was particularly evident in the 2006 presidential election, where PAN's candidate, Felipe Calderón, narrowly won with 36% of the vote.

In summary, PAN's ability to attract supporters is a result of its conservative ideology, its opposition to government intervention in the economy, its strong stance on social issues, its association with the Catholic Church, and its ability to appeal to urban middle-class and well-educated voters.

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