The autonomy of the institutions

During the last weeks, the succession of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation has been at the center of the national conversation. Beyond the “politicking”, the saga of the SCJN that began with the revelation of the plagiarism of Minister Esquivel and continued on Monday with the election of Minister Norma Piña to preside over the Court for the next four years, sadly illustrates the state of our country’s institutions and, at the same time, it seems to be a silver lining.

One of the most convincing explanations to understand what went wrong in Mexico in the last 30 years, where we had mediocre economic growth when the conditions were set for Mexico to grow at a high 6-7%, is institutional failure.

In this context, institutions are the series of rules, formal and informal, that determine the rules of the game of economic life and are decisive in fostering an environment of certainty and predictability that encourages economic activity. These include formal institutions such as laws and dispute resolution mechanisms. But also informal institutions such as the legitimacy of the decisions of the courts or the State. In the world of literature on institutions, they highlight a factor for institutions to be effective: autonomy.

In Mexico, we have failed in this matter. Although we have certain functional institutions, such as the INE that guarantee democratic processes and the peaceful transmission of power, the reality is that our institutions are corrupt, ineffective and, generally, subordinated to private or political interests. While our institutions were far from perfect, what we have seen in the last four years is widespread regression. This government has focused on capturing and eroding the little we had. In some cases, through austerity, the incipient effectiveness of some institutions has been destroyed. And, in others, their autonomy has disappeared and through the appointment of unconditional supporters, such as the CNDH.

The plagiarism saga is sadly revealing of the contempt we have in the country for institutions. In practically any country in the world, regardless of her guilt—which in this case is quite obvious—Minister Esquivel would have withdrawn her candidacy to preside over the Court and would have separated from office until the matter was clarified. And this difficult decision, she would have made to protect the legitimacy of one of the most important institutions we have, the SCJN. This story, like many others, makes it clear how solidity and institutional legitimacy are minor concerns in the face of preserves of power and private interests.

However, what happened on Monday, the election of Minister Piña as president of the Court and of the Federal Judicial Council, seems to open a space to still believe in the autonomy of our institutions. Beyond the appointment of Minister Piña —who is someone who has plenty of credentials to occupy both positions— the most important thing on Monday is that the ministers of the SCJN showed autonomy in the face of pressure in the morning and from the National Palace not choosing the president’s favorite candidate.

Perhaps the institutional scaffolding created by the transition regimes is not as fragile as some of us think and will resist the attacks of this government. The first game was played this week, we will see what happens with the INE in the coming weeks.