In Mexico, a Political Straitjacket for Populism

Mexican elections are getting more competitive, but even if next year's presidential race brings a change in government, the country's policies will largely stay the same. For more than a year, polls in Mexico have suggested that the relatively new National Regeneration Movement (Morena) -- a populist party formed by three-time presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador -- stands a real chance of winning the presidency. The results of the June 4 gubernatorial election in Mexico state only confirmed that Morena is a force to be reckoned with. Though Morena candidate Delfina Gomez Alvarez lost by 3 points to Alfredo del Mazo Maza of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), she outperformed candidates from the National Action Party (PAN) and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) by double digits....