Control over party and campaign finance in Mexico

This article offers a detailed description of how electoral laws have developed a legal framework to make Mexican political parties accountable, and how electoral authorities, both administrative (the Instituto Federal Electoral-IFE) and judicial (the Tribunal Electoral del Poder Judicial de la Federacion-TEPJF), have contributed to enhancement of public control over party resources through a series of regulatory mandates and judicial resolutions they have issued. The two famous cases of illegal campaign financing in 2000 showed that the legal instruments at IFE's disposal are still insufficient to keep track of irregularities and to avoid illegal funding. A second generation of electoral reforms is necessary to overcome such legal obstacles.