Political careers, political ambitions and career goals

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the political careers of members of the Chamber of Deputies. The paper deals primarily with PRI politicians as this party is the most important vehicle of recruitment and promotion in the Mexican political system. However, some information about prevailing paths of promotion of opposition politicians is also provided. Patterns of career advancement serve to assess the office ambitions of incumbent legislators, and identify the organizations through which individual politicians achieve promotion to elective office. Dealing with the political ambitions of legislators touches not so much on their personal motivations as on the arrangement of office opportunities that defines the goals, or rather the sequence of goals, that politicians pursue at different stages in their careers. Accordingly, the first section of this paper treats of the "structure of political opportunities", and analyses the consequences of non-consecutive re-election in terms of the office goals and career strategies of incumbent Deputies.