So the first year of Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s presidency of Mexico has come and gone, and there is both much and little to say about it. While no major catastrophe has come to pass, a bright new future seems more distant than ever. He is cruising, but his results are desultory.

According to most polls, Mr. López Obrador remains popular. On average his approval ratings are in the low 60s, roughly where two of his three predecessors — Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón — found themselves at the same stage of their terms. This is a remarkable feat, since his actual performance in the areas that matter to most Mexicans is dismal. The two most important ones — violence and the economy — are the worst in years. The survival of Mexico’s recent and precarious democracy is increasingly dim. The same Mexicans who applaud him personally disbelieve the success of his policies and disapprove of their results.

Mediocre economic growth over the past quarter-century contributed decisively to Mr. López Obrador’s election. Averaging less than 1 percent per-capita growth annually, Mexico’s economy was unable to lift people out of poverty, raise incomes for the lower and middle sectors of society, improve health and education or reduce inequality.

Mr. López Obrador promised 4 percent growth per year. In 2019, growth was nil, and in 2020 it will barely reach 1 percent, according to the most optimistic forecasters. Given the current fall of investment, many believe zero growth next year is a more reasonable estimate.