Alan Cordova

Global democracy promotion has the potential to transform political systems throughout the developing world. A phenomenon of the past half-century that has intensified in the past decade, it has become a central element in American foreign policy. However, while democratization has defined the principles supported by global organizations such as the United Nations and changed the ways in which states are conceived by policymakers, has this sweeping force had any impact on the commonplace people… Show more

Global democracy promotion has the potential to transform political systems throughout the developing world. A phenomenon of the past half-century that has intensified in the past decade, it has become a central element in American foreign policy. However, while democratization has defined the principles supported by global organizations such as the United Nations and changed the ways in which states are conceived by policymakers, has this sweeping force had any impact on the commonplace people that its supporters seek to empower? Show less

Global democracy promotion has the potential to transform political systems throughout the developing world. A phenomenon of the past half-century that has intensified in the past decade, it has become a central element in American foreign policy. However, while democratization has defined the principles supported by global organizations such as the United Nations and changed the ways in which states are conceived by policymakers, has this sweeping force had any impact on the commonplace people… Show more

Global democracy promotion has the potential to transform political systems throughout the developing world. A phenomenon of the past half-century that has intensified in the past decade, it has become a central element in American foreign policy. However, while democratization has defined the principles supported by global organizations such as the United Nations and changed the ways in which states are conceived by policymakers, has this sweeping force had any impact on the commonplace people that its supporters seek to empower? Show less

In January 2005, I conducted a political ethnography in the city, investigating the historical influences on the local civic identity, the relation between different ethnic groups and Muslims' relationship with the Spanish state vis-à-vis the national government's lack of a concrete multicultural policy.

When the Mexican congress is in session, Gustavo Almaraz Montano and his colleagues spend many hours roaming the corridors of the imposing Legislative Palace in downtown Mexico City. Almaraz spent three years in Congress as a senator representing the state of Baja California Norte in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but he's got a different reason these days for slapping backs in his former stomping ground.

Former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani is receiving a familiar reception in Mexico City. Local officials have begun to implement recommendations submitted by his security firm last year to combat crime in the Mexican capital.

For months, Mexico City Mayor and 2006 presidential hopeful Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has complained about his opponents' dirty tactics, suggesting that the right is conspiring against him. Now his worst fears are appearing in comic-book form. "The Dark Forces Against Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador," published and distributed free of charge to 2.2 million Mexico City doorsteps, has Lopez Obrador's critics up in arms.

(note: article by Scott Johnson "with Alan Cordova in Mexico City")

Soft music and idle chatter fill the air in the small but classy restaurant in an upscale Mexico City neighborhood. Suddenly, the music stops and the room falls silent. A policeman appears, bugle in hand. Blasting a painfully atonal fanfare, he announces the arrival of the First Lady of Mexico. As the audience breaks into applause, a petite, sharply dressed woman enters the room... he-e-e-e-e-r-e's Marta!

Balloting results will provide an important evaluation of the effectiveness of the National Action Party’s (PAN) political and economic reforms and, indirectly, President Fox’s record and his reputation among the electorate.