The weakening of civic culture in Mexico and in the world represents a growing challenge for contemporary democracies, warned the advisor of the Electoral Institute of Mexico City (IECM), Ernesto Ramos Mega, highlighting that various international indicators show a worrying loss of appreciation towards democratic regimes and the preference for authoritarianism.
IECM reports concern
During the XVII National Meeting of Civic Education, he pointed out that reports from organizations such as Latinobarómetro, IDEA Internacional, The Economist and V-Dem show a downward trend in citizen trust towards democratic institutions.
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“We should see civic education as an appreciation and defense of democracy and what this entails: respect for rights and freedoms, demand for accountability,” he said.
The Latinobarómetro 2024 study reveals that 24 percent of people in Mexico consider that an authoritarian government may be preferable to a democratic one, which places the country in second place in Latin America, only after Paraguay, he added.
“A good proportion of the Mexican population considers that an authoritarian government is not so bad and that democracy does not have that much value,” he warned.
Given this panorama, he indicated that the IECM promotes actions to strengthen civic education, such as the new Comprehensive Strategy and an Institutional Program of Civic Education, the use of technologies to bring content closer to citizens, research in collaboration with academic institutions and international organizations, the creation of teaching materials, as well as workshops and training.
Counselor points out
The counselor stressed that one of the main challenges facing democratic culture is misinformation. He recalled that 58 percent of the Mexican population acknowledges being concerned about the false information they receive on digital platforms, a phenomenon that may intensify with the advance of Artificial Intelligence.
Data. One in four Mexicans prefers an authoritarian regime, revealed international organizations
PHRASE:
“The population is concerned about false information (…) it is easily credible and distributed among the population and many of these false elements discredit democratic regimes” Ernesto Ramos Mega Electoral Councilor of the capital
“Many of these false contents discredit democratic regimes… and electoral processes, affecting citizen trust,” he explained.
The counselor explained that the IECM works on the development of materials and workshops to promote critical thinking and provide tools that help identify reliable news, as well as an illustrated manual that shows, through everyday examples, the importance of democracy.
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