As a dominant figure in the Constitutional Convention of 1856-1857, Ponciano Arriaga had a major role in the formulation of Mexican liberalism, for he presided over both the general convention and the Committee on the Constitution. Nevertheless, the moderate majority rejected his more advanced proposals for changing the social and economic structures of the country, and his reforms had to await the Constitution of 1917 for acceptance.

Ricardo José Zevada’s purpose in these two volumes is to delineate Arriaga’s ideology by summarizing the debates on the more important subjects discussed in the convention, as reported in Francisco Zarco’s Historia del Congreso Constituyente (1856-1857). The author makes no pretense of originality. The first four chapters in Volume I deal primarily with the ideas of Arriaga; chapters five and six and all seventeen chapters in Volume II set forth the ideas of all the deputies who took part in the debates. Zevada intervenes here and there to give the briefest of biographical data on a few personalities, to chide Arriaga for not having taken the correct liberal stance, to praise him for his adherence to principles, to indicate the debt which the conventioneers of 1917 owed to Arriaga, or to remind present-day legislators that they have veered from the path of true liberalism. Since Zevada did not concentrate on Arriaga, but merely summarized the speeches of all the participants in the debates, the publisher and the author decided—unhappily after the first volume was printed—to change the title of the second volume to La lucha por la libertad en el Congreso Constituyente de 1857: El pensamiento de Ponciano Arriaga. The title of the second volume comes closer to describing the contents of both.

That a nation plagued with revolutions could produce men of Arriaga’s caliber to carry on the struggle for liberty with eloquence and intelligence is amazing. Not only did Arriaga appreciate the intellectual currents of his time; he could also modify ideas in vogue to fit Mexican conditions. His analysis of the social and economic ills associated with the hacienda and with the notion of unrestricted private property is a masterpiece; he would have been at home in twentieth-century Mexico.

Arriaga’s ideology, however, is neither analyzed nor delineated. The format which Zevada chose—summarizing the ideas of all the participants in order as they were introduced in the Convention— does not permit it. The chief value of the two volumes, therefore, is to present the important debates of the Constitutional Convention in a quality paperback. The struggle over freedom of the press, freedom of conscience, church rights, jury trial, private property, education, trade restrictions, the rights of foreigners and formulation of foreign policy, direct or indirect election of deputies and the president, the requirement of residency for deputies within their districts, the power of states in relation to that of the central government—all of the debates on these topics are cogently summarized.

With a few exceptions, however, the author fails to indicate how the struggle over these concepts was resolved. He apparently presumes that the reader knows or has available the final text of the Constitution of 1857, a poor assumption in a work which is meant for the popular reader. A concluding chapter is badly needed, as the text merely trails off in one of the debates. A detailed table of contents takes the place of an index.

Now that he has undergone preparation for the work, it is hoped that Zevada will present us with a full-fledged biography.