| Summary: | This article examines the evolution of the term “democracy” in Mexico between the early and mid-19th Century. At the beginning of the century, democracy was associated with the French Revolution; it was a synonym for demagogy and instability. In the constitutional debates of 1823-24, democracy was a seldom used term. Nevertheless, the word was frequently used at the Constituent Congress of 1856-57, as it had begun to be used as a synonym for representative elections and republican government. This article analyzes the evolution of the use of this term in the texts of Mariano Otero in 1840, the failed Constituent Congress of 1842 and a variety of publications from the 1850s. Finally, it analyzes the various uses that were given to the term at the Constituent Congress of 1856-57. From that moment on, democracy would be associated with the official discourse of the Mexican state, alongside liberalism and federalism.
|
|---|
