ABSTRACT
The use of the singular form of the word "opposition" overlooks the proliferation of groups of opponents, each in conflict with the other groups, and many plagued by internal conflicts about ends and means. Mexico's "civic culture" has been cleared of the charge of authoritarianism. The public record is full of accounts of opposition movements, rebellions, peasant uprisings, labor strikes, and electoral challenges. Some sectors of society have insisted that deeply rooted problems can be solved only by a realignment of political forces that will reorder national goals and implement new policies. These groups are "the opposition" from among which observers hope to discover evidences of effective action. In Mexico, the 1977 electoral reform law has been criticized by opposition parties as coming too late and allowing too little change. The provisions of the law for changes in procedures for election of opposition candidates to the national Chamber of Deputies has been described in detail by Middlebrook.
