By:Claire Smith and Shannon McKay Mexico! By:Claire Smith and Shannon McKay

Public policymaking and implementations the people of mexico look strongly to the president and the executive branch to deal with all policy making. Until 1997, the legislature always had PRI majority and the legislature pretty much passed all presidential sponsored legislation. Currently, congress has acted more in regards to policy making. Congress blocks and forces the negotiation of legislation and they also introduce their own bills. The president uses negotiation and the media for public support from the people of mexico. occasionally, policies will not be implemented because public officials at lower levels disagree with the policies or they make deals in order to benefit themselves personally. (lower level officials may also lack the skills to implement some of the policies such as improving educational or rural development services.

Supranational and International Institutions: Mexico’s involvement in EU- EU is Mexico’s 2nd biggest export market and third largest source of import The EU-Mexico Trade Agreement covers goods and services, and specifically mentions access to competition, intellectual property rights, and investment. The EU and Mexico have an Economic Partnership, Political coordination, and cooperation agreement the EU and mexico work together on global issues including: environment, sustainable development, international peace and security, democracy and human rights, global economic governance. Mexico and the world bank had a strong partnership during the global economic recession. as of 2011, mexico has the banks 4th largest portfolio. while the labour market is below potential, the IMF is helping to contain inflationary pressures. the fund proects a GDP growth of 2.4% in mexico this year. mexico is currently apart of the GATT and WTO. in 1995 the WOT replaced GATT which was the organization overseeing the multilateral trading system. Mexico is apart of NAFTA which is a trade agreement that removes taxes on products traded between the U.S, Canada, and Mexico

Current Major Policy Issues Economic Performance: overall percentage of labor force (people actually looking for a job) : 4.51 out of scale of 3.5- 5.5 Unemployment rate for male: 4.8% Women: 5.01 Current inflation rate in Mexico: 3% Social Welfare: Poverty- Avg. salary in rural areas is 3-4 times less than in urban areas; thrives on drug wars, corruption, and quasi-institutional inequalities (the rich get richer) Education- 56% enrollment rate (ages 15-19) , many private schools with higher education. Also, different ethnicities create problems of Language in Mexico’s education. Health- major gap between rich and poor affects health in Mexico. Also, Inequities between where the people are born can determine the quality of care they receive. Civil Liberties, Rights and Freedoms: the military and police forces have been involved in unlawful killings, l killing, abuse, torture,and disappearances. There have been reports of threats and violence of many groups, including the abuse of migrants, trafficking in persons, and abuse of people with disabilities. Freedom House ratings are partly free; Civil Liberties are rated a 3 out of 7. Mexico’s Environment: A combination of geography and extreme population levels have produced one of the world’s most polluted areas. Air pollution is a major issue, especially in Mexico city.

population and migration and immigration as of 2013, mexico’s population is 122.3 million. mexico’s population is 1.7% of the entire world. 79% of the population is urban. mexico has a small immigration issue dealing with us citizens who stay for a while to enjoy lower costs of living and the warmer weather. although they extend their stay, they eventually return home to the united states. mexico deals with many citizens crossing the us border illegally. migration from mexico to the united states has been a long lasting issue in mexico

Terrorism there are no known terrorists groups currently operating in mexico. there is also no evidence of terrorist threats toward us citizens living in mexico. the government of mexico continues to strengthen law enforcement to regulate terrorism and violence in mexico.

Corruption Corruption is a major issue in Mexico. Mexico deals with government officials and police making deals with drug dealers, murder, and money laundering. Government officials in mexico also are involved in missing public funds (up to thousands of us dollars) the press has come a long way. from the PRI party controlling the media to make their party dominant, today all parties are fairly represented by the media and have fair access to campaigning. (the 2002 transparency act has allowed citizens to petition the government for information on public affairs) implement free and fair elections.

Current Major Issues Major issues in mexico include corruption, drug trafficking, and illegal immigrants in the United States. Gangs and the Mafia has been a ongoing problem in Mexico. Corruption with the police making deals with drug lords and the mafia only increase the problem. Many kids do not finish school and instead of looking for work, join a gang and continue on the issues. with the police working with gangs, it makes it much more difficult to stop this problem. High ranking government officials have tried to train new police and run a larger check on police in general to try and reduce the issues cause by the gangs.

Major Events 1992-NAFTA created 1994-NAFTA goes into effect 2000-Vincent Fox (PAN) wins presidency ending 70 years of PRI rule 2006-war on drugs 2006-700 mile fence built between mexico and the us to control immigration 2012-enrique pena nieto (current president) elected(PRI)

A Developing Country Along with Nigeria, Mexico could be considered a Developing country. Mexico is involved in international trade , and has an unemployment issue; however, laws have been implemented to relieve these issues. Social Welfare in Mexico is not the best quality, but this, too, has plans of improvement, which qualify Mexico as developing. Mexico has relatively good civil liberties, rights and freedoms (on paper). However, many problems exist that challenge these freedoms, which is why Mexico is not considered a developed country. Mexico and Nigeria both have low education levels. Both Nigeria and Mexico have very high poverty levels. Nigeria and Mexico are both considered partly free on the Freedom House Rating. Mexico is unique because they have harder immigration laws than the U.S. Also, Mexico’s corruption within political officials is unique because a lot of it has to do with people involved/associated with others in Drug Cartels.

Future Policy If economic growth continues in Mexico, the mexican economy is expected to be as large as spain and russia by 2020 and surpass Italy’s economy by 2030. Although economic prosperity seems promising, many factors are still holding mexico back including: income equality, security issues, and government corruption.

work cited Kesselman, Mark. "Introduction to Politics of the Developing World: Political Challenges and Changing Agendas." Google Books. Cengage Learning, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2015. "European External Action Service." European Union. European External Action Service, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2015. Michael, Bobby. "IMF: Mexican Economy to Pick Up Growth Momentum Following US Recovery." International Business Times RSS. N.p., 13 Nov. 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2015. Taylor, Adam. "Mexico Has Its Own Immigration Problem: American Retirees." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 2014. Web. 23 Mar. 2015. "Chapter 2. Country Reports: Western Hemisphere Overview." U.S. Department of State. U.S. Department of State, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2015. "Poverty in Mexico: Economic Crises and 21st Century Welfare."Poverties.org. Freedom House, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2015. "Around The World." Mexico Timeline. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2015 COHA. "Mexico’s Pursuit of “Developed Nation” Status." Council on Hemispheric Affairs. N.p., 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.