Political Institutions and Political Career Patterns in Mexico

Patterns of political careers can tell much about the structure of power within a political system; yet we know little of political ambition and career patterns in democratic Mexico. This paper uses a unique data-set of prior and future posts of over 1400 federal deputies from three plural legislatures (from the 57th to the 59th) to understand how the end of the pri's electoral hegemony and Mexico's institutional context affect the decisions that party politicians make about their political careers in a democratic context. The work finds that many members of the former opposition parties have moved away from party posts into government and elected positions. Furthermore, the state political arena has become extremely important for all politicians, even those from the Executive's party.