Professor Roderic Ai Camp

Dwight Dyer, Political Science

On October 28, 2002, Professor Roderic Ai Camp of Claremont McKenna College and Professor Alejandro Moreno of the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) spoke at the Center for Latin American Studies on the changing attitudes toward democracy among Mexicans and Mexican-Americans in the United States and in general in Mexico.

Professor Camp discussed how conceptions of democracy as a system of government that fosters equality, prevalent among Mexicans residing in Mexico, tend to get closer to the dominant conception common among non-Hispanics of democracy as fostering liberty when Mexicans migrate to the United States. He singled out the acquisition of English as a key component of this evolution.

Professor Moreno traced how Mexicans’ attitudes toward democracy changed over the course of the historic first presidential transfer of power between parties in Mexico in 2000. He singled out education as the main explanatory factor for the variance in attitudes across different social groups in the country.

Their presentations suggested a slow, yet encouraging, trend in support of democratic ideals and values in Mexico.

Professor Alejandro Moreno