The introduction of proportional representation has made the bicameral Mexican Congress a more pluralized institution. Currently, no party holds an absolute majority in either house. As competition among Mexicoís three major parties in Congress increases, the legislative branch is playing an increasingly important role in Mexicoís democratic transformation.

Numerous electoral reforms implemented since 1989 aided in the opening of the Mexican political system, and opposition parties have made historic gains in elections at all levels. Many of the current electoral concerns have shifted from outright fraud to campaign fairness issues. During 1995-96 the political parties negotiated constitutional amendments to address these issues. Implementing legislation included major points of consensus that had been worked out with the opposition parties. The thrust of the new laws has public financing predominate over private contributions to political parties, tightens procedures for auditing the political parties, and strengthens the authority and independence of electoral institutions. Alongside these more general, legal reforms, political parties are experimenting with more open procedures for selecting candidates at all levels of government. The court system also was given greatly expanded authority to hear civil rights cases on electoral matters brought by individuals or groups. In short, the extensive reform efforts have "leveled the playing field" for the parties and opened new opportunities for citizen participation in politics.

Even before the new electoral law was passed, opposition parties had obtained an increasing voice in Mexicoís political system. A substantial number of candidates from opposition parties had won election to the Chamber of Deputies and Senate. As a result of the 2000 and 2003 elections, the Congress is more diverse than ever. In the Chamber, 223 seats belong to the PRI, 154 to the PAN, 96 to the PRD, 17 to the Green Party, and the remaining seats are split among smaller parties. In the 128-seat Senate, the upper house of Congress, the PRI still holds the most seats at 60, but the PAN holds 46, the PRD 16, the Greens 5, and one senator is an independent. Senators serve 6 years in office and Deputies 3 years; neither can be elected to consecutive terms.

Although the PRI no longer controls the Presidency, it remains a significant force in Mexican politics, holding 17 statehouses. In state congressional and mayoral contests since July 2000, the PRI has fared better than the PAN.

Congressional and presidential elections are scheduled to take place in July 2006. Candidates have been selected by all three major parties. Signaling the strength of the opposition parties going into the 2006 presidential elections, both the PRD and PRI won important gubernatorial elections in late 2004 and early 2005. The Mexican Congress has approved absentee voting by mail-in ballot for citizens residing outside the nationís borders.

As a presidential candidate, Fox promised to renew dialogue with the EjÈrcito Zapatista de LiberaciÛn Nacional (EZLN) and address unresolved problems in the state. Following his inauguration, he ordered many troops out of Chiapas, dismantled roadblocks, closed military bases, and submitted revised peace accords to Congress. In August 2001, the peace accords became law, after having been passed by Congress and ratified by more than half of the state legislatures. However, the EZLN contended that amendments made to legislated provisions of the accord diminished their impact, and broke off talks with the Government.