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Intermittent Activists ? Mexico’s Party of the Democratic Revolution (1989-2000) The PRD was brought about with the Mexican “transition” in 1989. Faced with the need to build a party support structure quickly and confront repression in some areas, social leaders made up a large majority of PRD cadres. In their wake they brought activists who, at the local and regional level, individually or collectively, have helped to build up the PRD through a broad partisan network. The access social organizations have had to public and NGO funding has ensured material gains for the activists. Social organizations have thus constituted a reserve army that the party machine can mobilize. This is nevertheless a fluctuating and fragile party structure that depends on social leaders who sometimes may take stances at a distance from the PRD party line.