ABSTRACT
The three peoples are converging toward increasingly participant and liberal democratic political systems. The most striking changes are taking place i n Mexico, which seems to be moving from a highly centralized polity permanently dominated by one party, toward a more pluralistic political system. The one-party state is still i n place, but underlying changes are occurring among the Mexican public that are eroding its long-term viability. Political change is less obvious i n the United States and Canada, but evidence examined here indicates that they, too, are changing-and moving toward higher levels of public participation that is more finely targeted on specific issues than the elite-mobilized participation that has prevailed thus far.
