Mexico is in the midst of a transition.The defeat of the Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI) inthe 2000 presidential election marked a watershed, and withthe repeated defeat of the PRI in the 2006 election, the eraof the single?party dominance appears to be long gone. Thedemise of the one?party system may have been expected tousher in a new era where benefits of the government policiesand economic development are more widely shared. But, such achange has yet to take place. Why not? At the same time,there is a strong perception that the pace of much?neededeconomic reforms slowed down under the new politicalarrangement. Why? This Institutional and Governance Review(IGR) addresses these crucial questions, and in so doingtries to offer some insights into how Mexico'sdemocratic governance may be strengthened over time. Takinginto consideration the evidence collected for this work, thestudy argues that Mexico is well positioned to start itssecond transition towards effective democratic governance inthe country, but to do so will require addressing certainsocio-political obstacles that continue to limit the fulleffects of democratic accountability.