Mexico: Government

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MexicoGovernment Politics
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KEY CONCEPTS OF MEXICO

• Mexican Revolution had a great impact on its
  political culture and the Constitution of 1917
• It has a Presidential system with a legislature
  that features a mixed PR and a single-member,
  Federal System of Gov.
• One party dominated for 70 years (PRI)
• Multi-party system now PRD, PRI, PAN
• Single 6 year term
• Fraud was rampant in Mexican politics
• Had a corporatist system PRI distributed
  benefits to key groups
• Camarilla system network of PRI supporters in
  federal positions
• PRI dominance came to an end in 2000 ( Fox won)
• Unstable economy, illegal drug trade, emigration
  to US
• Developing country.NIC ( Newly Industrialized
  Country)

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Overview The Big Picture

• System of Government Presidential
• Distribution of Power Federal System
• Electoral System Mixed System SMDP and PR
• Constitution Constitution of 1917
• Legislature BicameralChamber of Deputies
  Senate
• Current Head of State Enrique Pena Nieto
• Head of Government Enrique Pena Nieto
• Current Ruling Party PRI
• Major Political Parties PRI, PAN, PRD

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December 1, 2000 Vicente Fox became President

• Why is that important?
• For the first time in 71 years, the President of
  Mexico did not represent the Institutional
  Revolutionary Party (PRI)
• Fox is from the National Action Party (PAN)
• The other major party in Mexico is the PRD
• Current Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto

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PRI rule was called the perfect dictatorship. Why?

• Conflict was limited to internal struggles within
  the party.
• What about those who disagreed?
• Dissenters were co-opted with promises or just
  repressed!
• So why the change?

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• Mexicans questioned the right of the PRI to
  monopolize political power
• Wanted fairer elections, more responsive public
  officials
• Demanded the right of opposition parties to
  compete with the PRI on an equal basis
• Said the president had too much power and the PRI
  was corrupt
• Not ready in 1994 when Ernesto Zedillo (PRI)
  easily won, but by 2000 they had had enough
• In the last two decades, reformers wanted Mexico
  to have a market-oriented economic system to
  replace the state-dominated one, but

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• But, it caused problems for citizens
• New policies and economic crises affected people
  adversely. How?
• Incomes fell, bankrupt businesses, jobs lost,
  services cut
• But Fox has stuck with these policies, resulting
  in
• More inequality. The elites are richer, but four
  out of every ten Mexicans live on less than two
  dollars a day.
• What are the implications of this for the U.S.?
• Given this inequality, why has there been no
  revolution in Mexico?

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Mexican Geography
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• 100 million inhabitants makes Mexico the second
  largest country in Latin America
• Largest Spanish speaking country in the world
• Over 70 live in urban areas
• Mexico City has over 20 million people

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• Borders U.S. 2000 miles, Guatemala 600
  miles, Belize 160 miles
• Migration is a major issue economic
  opportunities in the industrial cities of the
  north lead many men and women to seek jobs in the
  maquiladoras, or assembly factories. Some go on
  to the U.S.
• Problem repeats in reverse in the South, as
  poorer Central Americans look for jobs in Mexico.

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Geographic Influence

• Never underestimate the power of simple geography
  to explain (or create) internal differences in a
  country.
• Mexico is one of the most geographically diverse
  countries in the world
• Mountains and Deserts Regionalism
• Varied Climates size creates different
  experiences
• Natural Resources create disproportional wealth
• A long border with the United States shadow
• 111,000,000 People huge influence on
• Urban Population great impact on political
  support

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Mexican History

• The Porfiriato 1876-1911(Porfirio Diaz)
• The Revolution of 1910
• Reformers end the dictatorship
• Constitution of 1917
• Guaranteed agrarian reform, social security,
  right to organize in unions, minimum wage, eight
  hour workday, universal secular education, adult
  male suffrage. Women do not get the right to vote
  in national elections until 1958.
• Lazaro Cardenas 1934-1940
• Land reform
• Established the tradition of the sexenio

Pancho Villa (right) and Emiliano Zapata meet in
Mexico City to discuss the revolution.
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More Mexican History

• From clientelism to oil 1940-1982
• PRI and Patronage
• Oil in the Gulf of Mexico
• Fluctuating prices
• Crisis and Reform 1982 to the present
• Presidents Miguel de la Madrid (1982-1988) and
  Carlos Salinas (1988-1994) introduce major
  reversal of the countrys development strategy,
  limiting the governments involvement in the
  economy
• NAFTA 1993
• Economic crisis of 1994 and bailout
• Mexican economic reforms
• Rebellion in Chiapas 1994
• Assassination of Luis Donaldo Colosio (1994), PRI
  candidate for President, and Jose Francisco Ruiz
  Massieu, secretary-general of the PRI.
• Election of Fox in 2000
• Election of Felipe Calderon in 2006, narrowly
  defeating Lopez Obrador of the PRD.

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Political Culture

• Strong Sense of National Identity Mexicans
  share strong sense of national identification
  based on a common history, dominant religion and
  language.
• The Importance of Religion
• Catholic Church power has been reduced..kind of
  ..
• Patron-Clientelism (Camarillos)
• This system of cliques based on personal
  connections and charismatic leadership has served
  as glue that has held agrarian Mexico together
  through practicing you scratch my back, Ill
  scratch yours.
• Elite Spanish model of governing
• Erodes sense of responsibility to people and
  country
• Breeds corruption
• Democratization and industrialization have put
  pressure on this system.
• Economic Dependency
• Always been in someones shadowSpain then U.S.

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Political Economic Change

• The 20th Century after Revolution (1910-2010)
• The Influence of this Era
• Patron-Client System (caudillos) From revolution
• Constitution of 1917
• Conflict with Catholic Church (losing power)
• Establishment of PRI
• ALL ABOUT THE ELITE, NOT THE PEOPLEITS AN ELITE
  POWER SHARING PLAN
• PLAN All Caudillos under one party
• Agreement to pass around power
• Sexenio of President
• All other leaders would have major govt
  positions.
• Instutionalize the revolution by stabilizing
  conflict between leaders

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Political Economic Change

• The 20th Century after Revolution (1910-2010)
• The Emergence of Technicos and the Pendulum
  Theory
• Pendulum Theory
• Neoliberalism
• Mexican Miracle

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Political Parties in Mexicoleft to right

• PRD---------- PRI----------------PAN

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Political Parties PRI

• Institutional Revolutionary Party
• Established with the goal of reducing political
  conflict
• Cardenas transformed the party into a mass-based
  political party that could be used to build
  popular support for government policies and
  mobilize participation in elections
• Cardenas merged local, state and national
  organizations of peasants and urban workers that
  had been created during his presidency
• Party became appendage to the government itself
• Party enjoyed unlimited access to government
  funds to finance its campaigns.
• President enjoyed a slush fund authorized by
  congress
• Many of the advantages were challenged when the
  Salinas administration introduced electoral
  reforms, and the PRI had to adjust form being an
  official party to being a party out of power

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Political Parties PAN

• National Action Party
• Party that represents the views on the right of
  the ideological spectrum.
• Established in reaction to the leftward drift of
  public policy under Cardenas, especially his
  policies to support socialist public education
• Founders included Catholic intellectuals and
  urban middle class
• It also attracts votes from socially conservative
  peasants and the urban working class

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Political Parties PRD

• Party of the Democratic Revolution
• Represents the left of the ideological spectrum
• Members believe in moderate socialist political
  ideas
• Some who lean toward a communist ideology

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The Shifting of Mexicos Parties

• After 2006 election, social basis of support for
  parties shifted dramatically
• PRIs base was once rural, but in 2006 it was the
  PRD who took the rural and poor vote
• PAN retained its support with urban voters and
  young voters
• Region played the biggest role in determining the
  outcome of the vote
• PRD is weak in northern and central states, but
  strong in Mexico City
• The North-South split proved to be biggest
  cleavage in Mexican politics

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2000 Election

• Vicente Fox Wins! Partido Accion National (PAN)
• This changed caused political scientists to be
  optimistic about democratic rule in Mexico
• Mexico has been able to take control of its
  economic system in a way that most developing
  countries have not.
• It has raised the standard of living of most of
  its citizens

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2006 Election

• PAN won. PRD second. PRI last.
• Felipe Calderon (PAN) won.
• Andres Lopez Obrador (PRD) lost, but challenged
  the results
• PRD, the leftist party in Mexican politics
  challenged the election
• Obrador vowed to protest and vowed to set up a
  parallel government in which his supporters would
  answer to him.
• Obradors supporters and others declared that the
  election was not free and fair, calling into
  question Calderons ability to hold power
  legitimately
• Judicial branch validated electionAND it was
  followed!
• Liberal democracy in Mexico?

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Calderon Wins the Presidencyin the closest Race
in Mexican history

• Obrador lost some in part due to
• - he did not show up for 1st debate
• - negative ads turned middle class against him
• Results
• Calderon 35.9
• Obrador 35.3
• Madrazo 22.2

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• Vicente Fox (PAN)
• Felipe Calderón (PAN)
• Andrés Manuel López Obrador (PRD)

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Mexican Governance

• Mexico is a federal republic
• Under the PRI, the executive branch concentrated
  almost all power, and the legislative and
  judiciary were rubber stamps.
• Currently, it has multiparty competitive
  elections, and power is less concentrated in the
  executive and national government.
• Constitution of 1917
• Three branches of govt with a system of checks
  and balances
• Congress is composed of
• Senate with 128 members. Three are chosen from
  each of Mexicos 31 states (two are determined by
  majority vote, and the third is determined by
  whichever party receives the second highest
  number of votes), three from the federal district
  (Mexico City), and 32 are elected nationally by
  proportional representation.
• Chamber of Deputies with 500 members. 300 are
  chosen by majority vote and 200 are chosen by
  proportional representation.

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• The president, governors, and senators are
  elected for six years, while the deputies and
  municipal officials are elected for three years.
• The Congress has become more active as a
  decision-making arena and as a check on
  presidential power in the last few years. Why?
• The Executive
• The Mexican presidency is the central institution
  of governance and policy-making.
• Until the 1990s the incumbent PRI president
  always selected who would run as the partys next
  presidential candidate, appointed officials to
  all positions of power in the government and the
  PRI, and often named the candidates, who almost
  always won elections as governors, senators,
  deputies, and local officials.

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Executive Bureaucracy

• Mexican Presidents have many formal powers
• Initiate legislation, lead in foreign policy,
  create government agencies, make policy by
  decree, or through administrative regulations,
  and appoint a wide range of public officials
• Informal powers include
• Managing a giant patronage machine
• Under the PRI, presidents were almost always
  members of the outgoing presidents cabinet
• Since the mid 1970s, candidates have had
  impressive educational credentials
• Appoints cabinet
• Follows traditions
• 1.5 million in the federal bureaucracy, most in
  Mexico City
• 1 million work in the state-owned industries and
  semi-autonomous agencies of the government
• 1.5 million work for state and local governments

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Elite Recruitment

• Revolution caused a hostile attitude toward
  serving multiple terms, so political leaders are
  restricted to serving one term
• Cabinet filled with tecnicos
• People who spend their entire careers in the
  bureaucracy
• Kinship ties
• Political inbreeding

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Interest Articulation Political Control

• Corporatist
• A system of interest representation in which Each
  citizen is expected to relate to the state
  through a single structure licensed by the
  state to organize and represent themselves
  (peasants, teachers, etc.)
• In sum, a number of PRI-controlled interest
  groups dominate politics
• Result Patron-client networks in which favors
  were exchanged between citizens and members of
  the government.

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• Para-statal sector is very large and powerful
• Composed of government agencies, many producing
  goods and services Why so many?
• PEMEX, NAFIN
• Numbers have decreased in recent years, from a
  high of 1155 to 215 by 1994 Why?
• Military is clearly subordinate to civilian
  control Why?
• Military has dealt with domestic unrest
• Heavily involved in recent years to combat drug
  trafficking, but still tainted by scandals
• Judiciary Federal and state courts in Mexico
• Federal courts are topped by the Supreme Court,
  whose justices (11) are appointed by the
  President and approved by the Senate and serve
  terms of up to 15 years Judicial review???
• Judiciary traditionally supported the President,
  and even though that is changing, it remains the
  weakest branch

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• The policy-making process
• Good legislation is not always translated into
  practice What does this mean?
• Role of Congress in policy making
• Legislation
• Committees
• Political Parties
• PRI
• PAN
• PRD

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Government Performance

• Promoting economic Growth Reducing Poverty
• Mexico has experienced impressive economic gains,
  some credit should be given to government
  policies
• Foreign investment and the privatization of
  national industry led to massive public
  investments in infrastructure
• This has led to a stimulation of the economy,
  economic growth, and low inflation

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Government Performance

• Promoting economic Growth Reducing Poverty
• Neoliberal economic development
• Describes the idea of allowing free markets and
  foreign investment
• Standard of living of middle class Mexicans has
  improved
• Dark side of economy
• The poor remain desperately poor
• Much lower living standard than the poor in
  industrialized countries
• Income gap between urban and rural lifestyles
  remains great
• Suffered through periods of very high inflation

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Rule of Law and Mexicos Future

• Lacks rule of law that one finds in many
  industrialized nations
• Crime is rampant
• Justice is infrequently served
• Police are corrupt (in part because of low pay)
• Prospect of Democracy in Mexico
• Elections have become as free and fair as
  industrialized nations
• Economic performance has been mixed
• Rule of law is lacking
• Jury still out on whether or not Mexico will
  successfully transition to democracy

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Current Policy Challenges

• Playing catch up! with international trading
  partners
• To modernize it must modernize its agricultural
  sector to allow it to survive competition from
  countries that have subsidies to make their goods
  cheaper.
• Maintain job growth
• Renovate energy sector
• Accommodate aging population
• Politically Maintain fair and transparent
  election process

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