ABSTRACT
On the basis of a few theoretical remarks about the links between economy and society and a historical summary of the development of Mexican society the long-term and general nature of the crisis of the 1980s is to be illuminated. Though the assumption that there exists a systemic connection between economic, social and political elements is hardly new and has rarely been fundamentally challenged there is no agreement on how the different elements interact concretely. The progressive loss, though, did not lead to the re-establishment of mass legitimacy but rather to a transformation of governing conditions in the direction of the exclusive exercise of power. In the first place, the interpretation people have sketched labelled the immediate causes and characteristics of the crisis. Since the economic, social and political restructuration of Mexico is not yet terminated it is risky to prognosticate about the country's prospects.
