Political Institutions: Mexico in Transition Mexico is characterized by economic and political transition Authoritarianism under the PRI has been replaced by competitive elections Economic dependency and underdevelopment are slowly being transformed as public policies have been supportive of a free market economy, yet a backlash against neoliberalism has continued Regime type: from corporatist structure to transitional democracy

How Development is Measured GNP per capita – estimate of a country’s total economic output divided by its total population, converting to a single currency, usually the U.S. dollar. Does not take into account what goods & services can actually be purchased with local currency. HDI – Human Development Index – longevity, education, income (Mexico’s literacy rate is 94% for men & 90.5% for women, life expectancy is 72.4 years for men and 78 years for women Economic Dependency – a less developed country is often dependent on developed countries for economic support and trade. Balanced trade is generally the key, a country is said to be “developing” when it begins relying less on the stronger country to keep it afloat financially Mexico is in the middle in terms of its development, it is generally considered to be a “developing” country that has shown gradual improvement in all of its indices

Transitional Democracy Political Accountability Political Competition Political Freedom Political Equality Mexico has developed some democratic characteristics in recent years, but still has many distinctions present from its authoritarian history. Longevity of democratic practices is another way of determining whether a country is a stable democracy, usually 40 years or more. Mexico does not yet fit this description.

Linkage Institutions Political parties, interest groups, and media all worked to link Mexican citizens to their government During the PRI era all of this took place under the authority of the PRI party so a true civil society did not exist As democratization began and civil society began to develop, these structures were already in place, so activating democracy was easier than it would have been otherwise

Political Parties Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) National Action Party (PAN) Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD)

PRI In power from 1929-2000 Founded by coalition of elites led by President Calles Originally elites agreed to trade favors and pass around power from one cacique to another (Sexenio) Corporatist structure – interest groups woven into the structure of the party. Party has ultimate authority, but other voices heard by bringing interest groups under the umbrella of the party. Structure is not democratic, but allows for more input into government than other types of authoritarianism. Particularly since Cardenas peasant and labor organizations have been represented in the party and hold positions of responsibility Patron-client system – party traditionally gets its support from rural areas where patron-client system is still in control. Patron-client system allowed the PRI to remain in control of Mexicans as long as majority of population was rural, this began to change in the late 1980s

PAN (Right of Center) Founded in 1939 Represents business interests opposed to centralization and anti-clericalism PAN support strongest in the north PAN was generally considered PRI’s opposition to the Right PAN candidate Vicente Fox won 2000 presidential election, Felipe Calderon won 2006 election Platform Regional autonomy Less government intervention in the economy Clean & fair elections Good rapport with Catholic Church Support for private and religious education

PRD (Left of Center) PRD considered PRI’s opposition to the Left Presidential candidate in 1988 & 1994 was Cuahtemoc Cardenas (son of Lazaro Cardenas) He was ejected from the PRI for demanding reform that emphasized social justice and populism In 1988 Cardenas won 31.1% of the official vote, and PRD captured 139 seats in the Chamber of Deputies (500 total) Many believe had it been an honest election Cardenas would have won PRD has been plagued by poor organization, lack of charismatic leadership, and most importantly the lack of an economic alternative to the market-oriented policies of the PRI & PAN Andres Lopez Obrador, former mayor of Mexico City, was the PRD candidate for president in the 2006 election. He lost by a slim margin to Calderon (PAN)

Voter Profiles PRI – small town or rural, less educated, older, poorer PAN – from the north, middle-class professional or business, urban, better educated (at least high school, some college) religious (or those less strict regarding separation of church & state) PRD – younger, politically active, from the central states, some education, small town or urban

Elections Citizens in Mexico directly elect the president, Chamber of Deputy Representatives, and Senators as well as most local & state officials Elections are generally competitive, specifically in urban areas Members of congress elected through dual system of “first-past-the-post” and proportional representation Each of Mexico’s 31 states elects three senators, 2 are determined by majority vote, the other is determined by whichever party receives the second highest number of votes 32 senate seats are determined nationally through a system of proportional representation that divides the seats according to the number of votes cast for each party (128 Senate seats in total) In the Chamber of Deputies, 300 seats are determined by plurality within single-member districts, and 200 are chosen by proportional representation