The democratic character of the public sphere discouragesthe rise of any‘populist’ regime. Indeed,thecritical debate in the public sphere dispirits the frameof ‘populist’ discourses and policies that may be more hurtfulthan beneficial topeople.
Conversely,a fairdegree ofautonomy of the news media,from the government, contributes to the democratizationof the public sphere, since the lack of autonomyofthe news media undermines freedom inpublic debate.Furthermore, to grow and consolidate, a ‘populist’ regime needs to underminefree competitionandthe critical perspective of news media, because these traitsdetonatethe emergence of a democratic public sphere.The presentpaper argues that the Mexican public sphere has not evolvedas the legal electoralframeworkof Mexico has done so, and that public opinion in 3Mexico is still shaped undemocratically. Furthermore, so many unfair and unequal practices remain in the Mexican public sphere that the complete transition of Mexico to democracy seems unrealistic.