The politics of constitutional rigidity : unveiling pathways to change in Mexico / Mariana Velasco-Rivera.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Velasco Rivera, Mariana, author.

Series:

Oxford comparative constitutionalism

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Constitutional amendments--Mexico.

Constitutional amendments.

Constitutional history--Mexico.

Constitutional history.

Democracy--Mexico.

Democracy.

Mexico--Politics and government--2000-.

Mexico.

Constitutional law--Mexico.

Constitutional law.

Physical Description:

1 online resource.

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2025]

Summary:

This text explores the non-institutional factors affecting constitutional amendments. It proposes a new framework for understanding change, highlighting how political parties, systems, culture, and key actors' decisions shape political entrenchment.

"What makes a constitution difficult to amend? In the world of written constitutions, it is largely assumed that the stringency of the amendment rule plays a decisive role in determining constitutional rigidity, perhaps as a result of the US experience. Interestingly so, if one looks beyond the southern border of that country, one learns that with a very similar amendment rule to that of the US, Mexico has one of the most amended constitutions in the world. If it is not the stringency of the amendment rule that determines constitutional rigidity, what is it? This book analyses the question of amendment difficulty from a contextual approach to capture its political dimension. By looking at the case of Mexico in detail, this book explores the non-institutional factors that influence the ease of amendment. Building on the insights of this case study, the book offers an analytical framework for the systematic study of constitutional change. The framework posits that constitutional change (formal and informal) takes place in an economy of change whereby the interaction between political parties, party systems, constitutional culture, and choices made by key political actors determines the availability of the different institutional means for political entrenchment provided by a given constitution"-- Oxford Academic.

Contents:

The Mexican challenge

The formalist and anti-formalist approaches to constitutional rigidity

The economy of constitutional change

Political parties and formal constitutional change in contemporary Mexico

Constitutional change and constitutional culture in Mexico

Actors, choices, decisions, and the formation of political norms

The Supreme Court in Mexico’s economy of constitutional change.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Online resource; title from home page (Oxford Academic, viewed November 27, 2025).

Other Format:

Print version: Velasco Rivera, Mariana. Politics of constitutional rigidity

ISBN:

9780191981876

0191981877

9780192887337

0192887335

9780192887344

0192887343

OCLC:

1519475651

Publisher Number:

CIPO000237750

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license