Chapter One: Seeking New Lands, Seeing with New Eyes

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Comparative Politics Domestic Responses to
Global Challenges, Seventh Edition by Charles
Hauss
Chapter 16 Mexico
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Learning Objectives

• After studying this chapter, students should be
  able to
• Evaluate the assets and liabilities of the
  Mexican state in dealing with present-day
  situations
• Define the challenges facing Mexico
• Summarize the history of the development of
  Mexicos regime and politics
• Describe the Institutional Revolutionary Party
  and explain both its long-term hold on power and
  reasons why its political power has been
  successfully challenged
• Describe the present state of political
  competition in Mexico
• Identify the major public policy challenges
  facing Mexico and the reasons those issues are
  challenging
• Assess the role of the U.S.Mexican relationship
  on Mexican politics and policy making

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A Potentially Devastating Crisis?

• As of 2009, Mexico faces a host of problems that
  impact how effectively the state can govern
• The economic crisis
• 40 of gross income comes from oil
• 2nd largest foreign income source is remittances
  from Mexicans living in the U.S.
• The war on drugs
• Paralyzed government

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Thinking about Mexico

• The Basics
• Poverty
• Not as poor as most less-developed countries
• For the past 20 years stagnation has been the
  norm
• Continued poverty Lack of access to safe
  drinking water, lack of adequate housing and
  healthcare
• Cities are overcrowded
• Massive debt

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Thinking about Mexico

• The Basics
• Diversity
• Rugged country
• 12 of land is arable
• Minerals and petroleum
• Variety of ethnic heritages
• Mestizos
• 5 to 10 speak native languages
• Indian influence more noticeable than in the
  United States

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Thinking about Mexico

• The Basics
• Big brother is watching
• U.S.Mexican relationship
• Economic interdependence
• Mexican immigration to the U.S.
• As many as 9 million Mexicans living in the
  United States
• 9 billion goes back to Mexico
• Cross border drug traffic
• Dependent psychology

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Thinking about Mexico

• Key Questions
• Why did the PRI win so consistently and stay in
  power for so long?
• How and why did forces undermining PRI rule
  emerge, culminating in the PANs victories in the
  last two presidential elections?
• Why did 3 successive presidents embrace
  structural adjustment?
• How have those economic reforms addressed
  Mexicos poverty and other needs?
• How have events of the past two decades affected
  the MexicoU.S. relationship?

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The Evolution of Mexican Politics

• The Colonial Era
• 1,000 years ago Mayan civilianization which gave
  way to the Aztecs
• Elaborate system of courts, tax collectors, and
  political-military administrators
• Spanish incorporated native population into an
  elaborate hierarchy
• Exploitative mercantilist empire
• Catholic Church owned 1/3 of the country and
  forced Catholicism
• Haciendas
• Spanish not effective colonial leaders and were
  never able to secure rule throughout the country

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The Evolution of Mexican Politics

• Independence
• Independence battles began in 1810
• A century of civil war, invasion, and chaos
  followed
• Social and economic problems festered
• Santa Anna and loss of territory to the U.S.
• Intervention of Europeans in 1864
• Stable, military dictatorship under Porfirio Diaz
  (18761911)
• Non-reelection
• Foreign investment
• Modern economic infrastructure
• Rurales

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The Evolution of Mexican Politics

• The Revolution
• Populist rebels, labor unions, and upper-class
  liberals led 1911 revolution
• Zapata, Villa, Madero, and Carranza
• Wilson administration interference 1914
• 1.5 million deaths in the countryside
• 1916 Carranza defeated Zapata and Villa and
  occupied Mexico City

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The Evolution of Mexican Politics

• The Revolution
• Institutionalizing the revolution
• Constitution of 1917 has survived
• Power of church limited
• Foreigners no longer allowed to own Mexican land
  or mineral resources
• Legalization of the break up of haciendas
• Political turmoil led to establishment of what
  would become the PRI and the PRI system in 1929
• Single-party control access to political office,
  various groups within the party would win some of
  them
• No president could serve more than six years
• President would select successor

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The Evolution of Mexican Politics

• Cárdenas and His Legacy
• Land reform
• Nationalization of oil industry (PEMEX)
• PRI established Confederation of Mexican
  Workers and two peasant organizations
• Retired after sexeño ended
• Reforms did little to eliminate poverty

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The Evolution of Mexican Politics

• An Institutional Revolutionary Party
• Revolution was institutionalized
• Eleven presidents since 1940
• Alemanista modelindustrialization/trickle-down
  theory, state ownership of a few industries and
  state control over private sector
• All presidents repressed opposition to PRI rule
• Under Portillo Alemanista model collapsed when
  debt skyrocketed
• IMF and conditions
• De la Madridspoke of democratic and market
  reforms, only made progress with the latter
• 1997 Congressional electionend of a political
  era
• 200 electionslost the presidency

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The Evolution of Mexican Politics

• An Institutional Revolutionary Party
• Stability and continuity resulted from PRIs hold
  on power
• Social reform became less important
• Elitist governance
• Corruption and rigged elections
• State-run economy faltered as globalization grew

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Political Culture

• Only third-world country included in Gabriel
  Almond and Sidney Verbas path-breaking study
• National identity a powerful force in sustaining
  PRI rule
• Social and economic changes eroded some of these
  values
• Common language, mass culture, history, and
  religion
• Widespread legitimacy
• Revolutionary figures viewed as heroes
• Revolution is used to describe anything positive
• Authoritarianism and charismatic leadership
• Male-dominated political system
• Patron-client relations camarillas as PRI base

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Political Culture

• Political sub-cultures (using Almond and Verbas
  typology)
• Parochials Indians not well integrated into
  Mexican system
• Subjects Majority who tolerate the system
  (elderly, poor, women, peasant farmers)
• PRI participants Beneficiaries of the party and
  its dominance
• Emerging anti-PRI subculture

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Political Participation

• Basic freedoms of liberal democracy
• Everyone 18 and older has the right to vote
• Open and heated press
• Human rights violations
• PRI usually did not have to rely on the use of
  force to keep opponents out of office
• Election fraud
• Little opportunity for political dissent

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Political Participation

• The PRI and its Hold on Power
• Rigged elections when necessary
• Organized around a network of camarillas
  (patron-client networks)
• Control of Federal Electoral Commission
• Electoral victories legitimized PRI rule
• Opposition of late 1980s
• 1990s reforms
• Independent Federal Electoral Institute

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Political Participation

• The PRI and its Hold on Power
• Corporatism was mutually beneficial to party and
  members
• PRI associations
• Provided tangible benefits to group members
• Tied peasants and workers to regime to control
  protest
• Groups were recruiting ground for leadership
• Control eroded with market-oriented policies and
  as civil society expanded

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Political Participation

• The PRI and its Hold on Power
• 21st century
• Fined 92 million for illegal campaign practices
• Declining base of support
• Surprising recovery in 2009 legislative elections
  

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Political Participation

• The Other Parties
• PAN
• Formed in 1939 to oppose Cárdenass reforms
• Backed by business and Catholic interests, gained
  support from President Reagan
• Strongest in North and wealthy urban areas
• First success in 1983 local elections
• Quarter of the vote in 1994 and 1997,
  breakthrough in 2000
• Foxs leadership galvanized party energies
• Electoral reforms paved the way for successes
• 2006 PRD accused PAN of electoral fraud courts
  declared Calderon the winner

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Political Participation

• The Other Parties
• PRD
• Left-wing of PRI broke away to form party in 1986
• PRD lost in 1988 because of electoral fraud
• Leadership of Cuautémoc Cárdenas was key
  attraction
• PRD holds balance of power in legislature
• Controls a number of cities
• Obrador

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Political Participation

• Civil Society in Mexico
• Unlikely to return to corporatist,
  camarilla-based PRI dominance
• Emergence of civil society
• Womens movement

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The Mexican State

• No changes in state structure
• United States and Mexican governments similar on
  paper
• Semi-authoritarian, one-party state until
  recently due to informal arrangements

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The Mexican State

• Non-reelection and Presidential Domination
• Key features of Mexican state
• President appoints all bureaucratic and judicial
  positionsa whole new team every term
• Mexican president far more powerful than U.S.
• Initiates legislation
• Issue decrees
• Transfer funds and authorize expenditures
• Cycle of presidency
• First year/year and a halfassemble team
• Next few yearsimplement policy
• Last few yearsplan for succession

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The Mexican State

• Non-reelection and Presidential Domination
• All three major parties now hold primaries
• Post-1999 primary elections to choose
  presidential candidates have changed process, but
  not power of office
• PAN presidents have struggled with legislature
  for power

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FIGURE 16-1 Traditional Decision Making in Mexico
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The Mexican State

• The Cabinet, the Bureaucracy and the Judiciary
• Bureaucracy was part of PRI machine
• Massive appointment powers meant nearly everyone
  in government owed jobs to someone above them
  (Camarilla networks)
• Bureaucracy manned by political appointees from
  top to bottom
• Tremendous turnover, hard to develop expertise
• Without the PRI organization, Fox had difficulty
  filling positions many bureaucrats remained in
  place
• Supreme court has unused power of judicial review
• More court independence since 1990s

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The Mexican State

• Congress and the Legislative Process
• Rubber stamp for PRI policies
• Non-reelection guaranteed policy inexpertise
• Prior to 1997 worked like a parliamentary system
• Gridlock since 97 because of a lack of majority
• No tradition of compromise decision making

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The Mexican State

• The Federal System
• 31 states plus federal district, local
  municipalities
• Most state and local governments still dominated
  by PRI
• PAN and PRD have won more and more elections in
  last decade

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The Mexican State

• The Military
• Repeatedly intervened in Mexican politics into
  the 20th century
• Has been depoliticized
• High-ranking officers close to drug cartels,
  although police force is much more deeply
  involved
• In 2008 and 2009 military took over on law
  enforcement for war on drugs

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The Mexican State

• Corporatism and Corruption
• Spoils system
• Mismanagement of public enterprises
• Recent presidents have tried to crack down

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The Mexican State

• The Fox Presidency An Assessment
• Critics felt he was not an effective leader,
  especially dealing with the opposition
• Supporters cite problems beyond his control
• Struggled through first real political change
  since 1920s
• Fox and his team were not good at negotiating and
  bargaining
• Mexico could become a failed state

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Public Policy

• Debt and Development Early Success of
  State-Sponsored Industrialization
• Mexican model of stable development gone with
  decline in oil prices in 1980s
• 1940s development aided by wartime demand for
  goods
• Did not take over company for ideological reasons
  
• Privately-owned companies integrated in corporate
  system
• Economic growth of 6 a year 194080
• Social justice issues ignored
• Income distribution unequal
• Traffic and pollution

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Public Policy

• Debt and Development Ongoing Crisis
• Mismanagement of state industries
• Debt crisis
• Drawn into global economy
• Portillos assumption that oil prices would
  remain high, but prices declined
• Nationalized banks
• Earthquake
• Price of oil fell even more

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Public Policy

• Reform
• Mexico adopted structural adjustment earlier and
  more wholeheartedly than other developing
  countries
• Debt reduction
• Sharp cuts in government spending
• Kept deficit low, social services cut
• Privatization
• Over 1,100 parastatals in 85 100 in 2009
• Retains control of PEMEX
• Opening up the economy to foreign investment
• 1994 NAFTAall trade barriers eliminated by 2010
• Wages are 1/8 of those in the U.S.

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Public Policy

• Reform
• Inflation down growth rates respectable
• More visible middle class
• Real wages down
• Under or unemployment 40
• Malnutrition
• Income distribution more unequal
• No significant policy changes under PAN
• Losing control of its own economy and development
  to foreign investors

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Public Policy

• U.S.Mexican Relations Immigration and
• Drugs
• U.S. rarely dictates policy, but Mexico follows
  because of its wealth and size
• Recent relations peaceful and cooperative, but
  historical conflicts
• Unequal relationship
• Four key themes of foreign policy
• PRI rhetoric nationalistic
• Estrada Doctrine 1930
• Left-wing foreign policy
• Wariness regarding the United States

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Public Policy

• U.S.Mexican relations Immigration and
• Drugs
• During times of economic expansion immigration
  policies loosened
• Times of high unemployment U.S. force immigrants
  out again
• Four major crackdowns 1947, 1954, 1964, and 1986
• 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act
• 2007 Immigration reform bill failed, as of summer
  2009 Obama has not introduced any reforms
• U.S. fears about cost of social services and
  dilution of culture
• Mexicans point out
• They work in jobs Americans dont want
• U.S. has never fully acknowledged the benefits of
  immigration
• U.S. does not address discrimination against
  Mexicans
• Remittances are important in Mexico

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Public Policy

• U.S.Mexican Relations Immigration and
• Drugs
• Many of the drugs Americans consume come from
  Mexico
• Marijuana generates more money in some states
  than legal crops
• 70 of Colombian and Peruvian cocaine crosses
  Mexican border into U.S.
• Drug trade amounts to 2 billion in additional
  income for Mexicans
• DEA operates inside Mexican territory

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Feedback

• Media ostensibly free of government control
• The mass-market press rarely took on the PRI
• PRI papers with information
• Occasionally government clamped down
• Number of independent outlets growing
• More media not controlled by government

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Mexico and the Third World

• Erosion of national sovereignty
• Globalization and proximity to the U.S. are main
  causes