Structural Transformations of Political Rights: the Mexican Case

Abstract

This note supports the hypothesis that democratization and openness to international human rights law in Mexico brought about a structural change in its constitutional principles. This was mainly the result of substantially transforming the meaning - and especially the scope - legally given to political rights. The change from prerogatives to rights is not only a matter of nomenclature, but also a 180-degree shift, at both practical and epistemological levels. In addition to this, the project to establish a Ius Constitutionale Commune in the region, based on human rights standards, has been an equally important change as it has placed the human person at the heart of the matter.