Institutional Revolutionary Party - Name Change

Name Change

The party was the result of Plutarco Elías Calles's efforts to stop the violent struggle for power between the victorious factions of the Mexican Revolution, and guarantee the peaceful transmission of power for members of the party. Lázaro Cárdenas (president of the party and, in 1938, president of Mexico) renamed the party as Party of the Mexican Revolution (Spanish: "Partido de la Revolución Mexicana", PRM) whose aim was to establish a democracy of workers and socialism. However, this was never achieved and his main intention was to create the broad-based political alliances necessary for the PRI's long-term survival, splitting the party into mass organizations representing different interest groups and acting as the political consciousness of the country in a more realistic level (for example, the Confidential National, the farmer's group). His strategy with the party mirrored the balanced ticket approach of 1930s Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak, who created the Cook County Democratic Organization, characteristic of Chicago by balancing ethnic interests. Settling disputes and power struggles within the party structure helped prevent congressional gridlock and possible armed rebellions, but this style of dispute resolution also created a "rubber stamp" legislative apparatus.

The party, under its three different names, held every political position until 1946 when the PAN started winning posts for municipal president and federal deputies and senators, starting in 1946, after the party changed its name to its current name Partido Revolucionario Institucional. The party had, by then, acquired a reputation for corruption, and while this was admitted (to a degree) by some of its affiliates, its supporters maintained that the role of the party was crucial in the modernization and stabilization of Mexico.