Mexico

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: Bicameral—Chamber of Deputies & Senate Current Head of State: Enrique Nieto Head of Government: Enrique Nieto Current Ruling Party: PRI (kind of) Major Political Parties: PRI, PAN, PRD

Mexico in Comparative Context Revolutions: Russian, Chinese, and Iranian One-Party Rule: Russia China Relatively unique, Democratic façade but Mexican transition to democracy did not require building new institutions from scratch (China and Russia), but rather breathing life into preexisting institutions that had been dormant because of one party rule. Dual-Transition : Russia From a socialist economy to a market economy AND from authoritarian rule to democracy Provides a great comparison with Russia Oil: All All six countries in AP curriculum are major producers of oil Mexico contrasts with Iran and Nigeria in that they are not rentier states Only 7% of Mexico’s export earnings come from oil (Iran: 80% and Nigeria: 90-95%)

Newly Industrializing & Less Developed Countries So far, advanced democracies and communist or post-communist countries However, vast majority of countries in the world have neither liberal-democratic or communist regimes. Commonalities: All struggle with economic issues, including poverty, low GNPs, trade dependency, and weakness of infrastructure. Most LDC are currently developing fragile democracies. Many still have dictators, military leaders, or monarchs, but industrialization and modernization (higher levels of education wealth) are slowly eroding their power.

Sovereignty, Authority, and Power Legitimacy Mexican citizens consider government and its power legitimate Sources of Legitimacy Revolution of 1910-1911 Admiration of revolutionary leaders, Hidalgo, Juarez, Zapata, Pancho Villa, Lazaro Cardenas Seen as acceptable path to change, and charisma is highly valued as a leadership characteristic PRI Revolution legitimized by the formation of PRI in 1929 Constitution written during this era, three-branches of government, but PRI was intended to stabilize power in the hands of its leaders.

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, I’ll 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 someone’s shadow…Spain then U.S.

History Historical Influences Divided into Three Parts Colonialism Independence (1821) until Revolution of 1910 The 20th Century after Revolution Colonialism: Impact Cultural heterogeneity (mestizo) Catholicism (spread into country-side) Economic Dependency (controlled by Spain)

History “The Porfiriato” 1876-1911 Porfirio ruled for 34 years Dictatorship Impact Stability Authoritarianism Foreign Investment and economic growth Growing gap between rich and poor Revolution!

History 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 PEOPLE—IT’S 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 gov’t positions. “Instutionalize” the revolution by stabilizing conflict between leaders

History The 20th Century after Revolution (1910-2010) The Cardenas Upheaval (1934-1940) Redistribution of Land Nationalization of Industry (PEMEX) Investments in Public Works Removal of Military from overt political involvement Encouragement of Peasant and Union Organization Concentration of Power in Presidency Proved incredibly durable and led to pattern of PRI-dominated politics, as each PRI president hand picked his successor Proved to be stable and internally legitimate Called the “perfect dictatorship”

Carlos Salinas (1988-1994) Opened the economy to foreign trade and privatized nationalized industry in an attempt to modernize Privatization caused an increase in gap between rich and poor, leading to a revolt in Chiapas Paved way for downfall of PRI and one-party rule

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 it’s citizens

2006 Election PAN won. PRD second. PRI last. Felipe Calderon (PAN) won. Andres Lopez Obrador (PRD) lost, but challenged the results Obrador’s supporters and others declared that the election was not free and fair, calling into question Calderon’s ability to hold power legitimately Judicial branch validated election…AND it was followed! Liberal democracy in Mexico, or USA 2000?

2012 Election PRI won. PRD second. Pan third. Enrique Nieto (PRI) Andres Obrador (PRD) lost, but challenged the results Obrador’s supporters and others declared that the election was not free and fair, calling into question Nieto’s ability to hold power legitimately This is the exact same as the last slide! What a sore loser

Political Structures and Institutions On Paper: Constitution of 1917 sets up a democracy Presidential system with three autonomous branches of government with checks and balances and federalism. In Practice: Mexico’s system is highly centralized The president had very few restraints on his power President completely dominated the legislature and judicial branches The majority of those elected to public office, were appointees who were named to their positions by higher-ups within in PRI (known as camarillas) Reelection is prohibited Meaning that there is massive turnover with each election and no experience of legislature to draw on

Federalism Mexico is a federal system 31 states and the federal district (Mexico City) Each state is divided into municipals System is classified as Political Centralism Meaning that there is a concentration of power at the federal level, although there are elections for local officials Each layer of government successively weaker PRONASOL (National Solidarity Program) A program of revenue sharing that was implemented Goal: to shift decision-making authority over public education and health care to the states

The Legislative Branch Federal Congress—Two Houses Senate 128 member upper chamber has exclusive power to oversee foreign affairs, primarily conducted by the president has power to remove state governors and depose state legislatures Chamber of Deputies 500 member lower house all revenue bills originate in lower house has power over appropriations and budget oversight

The Legislative Branch Election process Mixed electoral system Both houses employ a mixed system in which some members are elected by plurality vote in single member districts, while others are elected by a system of proportional representation of closed party lists. 2% minimum winning threshold The mixed member system has led to a three-party system in which most of the regions now have two-party systems but nationally the vote is split into three main blocks President has veto power over legislation This caused a stalemate during Vicente Fox’s term

Legislative Branch Presidential vetoes Can take two forms Regular veto, in which the president expresses his rejection of a bill Corrective veto, in which the president requests that Congress amend the bill, usually because of technical errors in the text In either case, Congress can insist on the original text of the bill by a two-thirds vote, after which the president must publish the legislation

The Executive Branch More dominant political actor in Mexico for the greater part of the twentieth century Possessed broad range of unwritten but generally recognized “metaconstitutional” powers Power is concentrated in the executive—presedencialismo Other government branches take their cues from the president Has veto power over legislature The president has traditionally handpicked his successor, Vicente Fox did not

The Executive Branch Requirements for “metaconstitutional” presidential power Unified Government (legislative control). High party discipline in the ruling party. Recognition of the President as head of party. When in place, the president can rule without regard to constitution (PRI rule) When all three do not exist, executive-legislative relations follow constitutional rather than partisan norms. (post 1997)

Executive-Legislative Relations Once true that president presided over a compliant legislature With the end of PRI-dominance, this is no longer true Vicente Fox had significant difficulties getting many of his programs passed through the legislative branch Fox only had 41% of seats in lower chamber

Political Parties: PRI Established with the goal of reducing political conflict 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

Political Parties: PAN 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

Political Parties: PRD Represents the left of the ideological spectrum Members believe in moderate socialist political ideas Some who lean toward a communist ideology

Elite Recruitment Kinship ties 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

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.

Government Performance Promoting economic Growth &Reducing Poverty Because of belief that oil revenues would be guaranteed income, the government borrowed heavily abroad. When oil prices decline, the government was forced to suspend repayment of foreign debt. US helped renegotiate term, but Mexico remains heavily in debt. Salinas disaster of 1994—capital flight of $10 billion in one week.

International Environment Economy Intertwined with the United States Many workers emigrate to the US both legally and illegally US is one of Mexico’s largest trading partners mid-1990s peso was devalued, making imports from Mexico extremely cheap in the US, and Mexico’s trade deficit grew to record heights Many US companies saw Mexico as an ideal place for investment and established multinational corporations (maquiladoras) along US-Mexican border

International Environment NAFTA Required lowering trade barriers between US, Mexico and Canada. Mixed results NAFTA led to a greater diversity of available products, lifting the standard of living for some But increased the gap between the rich and the poor and wages in Mexico have stayed low.

Rule of Law and Mexico’s 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