Unchecked Democracy: The Peril of Dissolving Protective Bodies

Recently, the Morena majority approved a reform to dissolve autonomous constitutional bodies such as the INAI, Cofece, and Coneval. The official reasoning is that these entities are too costly and their duties can be taken over by federal government secretaries. However, this move raises concerns about the erosion of checks and balances that are vital for a functioning democracy.

These organizations are not just bureaucratic entities or budgetary extravagances; they are designed to protect citizens from government overreach. For example, the INAI, the National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information and Personal Data Protection, has the authority to enforce the delivery of information when a citizen's request to the government is denied. This autonomy has enabled millions of Mexicans to access crucial information, ranging from public works contracts to the use of resources during emergencies.

With the INAI now set to be absorbed by the federal administration, there are doubts about whether the government will monitor itself with the same level of scrutiny. The Morena majority insists there is no cause for concern, but their track record suggests otherwise. Since they came into power, they have consistently withheld public information, from the costs of the Maya Train project to vaccine contracts. In a government that often operates behind closed doors, the dissolution of the INAI seems more like a strategic move to evade accountability than a mere coincidence.

The elimination of the Cofece, which prevents monopolies, and the Coneval, which measures poverty and evaluates social programs, is equally concerning. These bodies play a crucial role in regulating, measuring, and ensuring that public power is not abused. Their duties will now be taken over by the very secretaries they were meant to regulate, meaning the government will act as both judge and jury.

This centralization is not just an institutional regression; it contradicts the fundamental principle of democracy: a balance of powers where no one entity holds absolute control. This reform appears less about efficiency or austerity and more about weakening the safeguards that protect citizens from government excess. Without autonomous bodies, lack of transparency will become the norm rather than the exception.

The Morena majority and its legislative allies seem to have overlooked the fact that a democracy without checks and balances is merely a facade. The real question is whether we are willing to let this happen. After all, a democracy does not collapse overnight; it erodes gradually, piece by piece, until it becomes too late to restore.