Roderic Camp, the Philip M. McKenna Professor of the Pacific Rim, will be part of an international panel of scholars participating in a July 7 symposium on the outcome of the Mexican presidential race. The Roundtable on Mexico's 2006 Election Results, sponsored by the Mexico Institute of the Woodrow Wilson Center, will be held at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.
"The 2006 race is significant as a confirmation of Mexico's democratization," Camp says. "The two leading candidates are from the National Action Party (PAN) and the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), thus voters will be choosing a president from the two former opposition parties, not the long-time incumbent party prior to 2000.
"If the PRD candidate wins," Camp says, "it means that voters have given each of the three major parties a chance at governing the executive. On the other hand, voters are nearly evenly divided in their support for the three parties' congressional candidates, which means the president will have to deal with a divided congress-- with his own party a small minority in the legislative branch."
Camp joined the Claremont McKenna faculty in 1998. He has served as a visiting professor at Colegio de Mexico and the Foreign Service Institute, and carried out research as a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, established as part of the Smithsonian Institution. He has been a Fulbright Fellowship recipient on three occasions, as well as a recipient of the Howard Heinz Foundation fellowship for research on Mexico. Camp is a contributing editor to the Library of Congress's Handbook of Latin American Studies, and to Microsoft Encarta, and serves on the University of California's Editorial Board of Mexican Studies. He is a frequent consultant to national and international media, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, and the BBC.
Additionally, he has authored 29 books, including Politics in Mexico, The Democratic Transformation (2003, Oxford University Press, 4th ed.), Mexico's Mandarins, Crafting a Power Elite for the 21st Century (2002, University of California Press), and Citizen Views of Democracy in Latin America (2001, University of Pittsburgh Press).
"The election will have little effect on Latin America," says Camp. "But if PRD wins, it would likely result in a withdrawal of Mexican leadership regionally in support of its traditional, non-interventionist foreign policy stance, and if PAN wins the presidency, it will continue the higher visibility the Mexican government has sought since 2000."
*******
Camp is available for media election comment and analysis. For more information, please refer to the advisory, below:
CLAREMONT McKENNA EXPERT ON MEXICAN POLITICS AVAILABLE FOR ELECTION COMMENT AND ANALYSIS
Professor Roderic Camp, Author of More than 20 Books on Mexico Government
Roderic Camp, the Philip M. McKenna Professor of the Pacific Rim and Professor of Government, Claremont McKenna College, is available for comment and analysis surrounding the upcoming Mexican general elections.
Credentials
An internationally recognized expert on Mexico's government, Professor Camp is the author of more than 20 books on Mexican politics, including Politics in Mexico, The Democratic Transformation (Oxford University Press, 2003), and Mexico's Mandarins, Crafting a Power Elite for the 21st Century (University of California Press, 2002). He also has led a two-year study to examine Mexican and American views of democracy. He has been a visiting professor at the Colegio de Mexico and the Foreign Service Institute, and is a three-time Fulbright Fellow.
Interviews available in English or Spanish.
Views Professor Camp calls the race a statistical tie, with strong variables including support for both candidates among young people, a group with a traditionally low voter turnout, as well as the potential impact of undecided voters, approximately 15 percent of intended voters just days before the election.
Contact
Professor Rod Camp may be contacted at 909-607-4138, or emailed at roderic.camp@claremontmckenna.edu.
Additional Questions
Evie Lazzarino, CMC Office of Public Affairs & Communications, 909-607-9099 office, 909-322-3134, cell, or evie.lazzarino@cmc.edu