Environments to the Political System

 Population:  106 million  Territory:  761,602 sq. miles (roughly size of U. S. – east of Mississippi River)  Year of Independence:  1810  Year of Current Constitution:  1917  Head of State:  President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa  Head of Government:  President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa  Language:  Spanish, various Mayan, Nahuati, Zapotec, and other regional indigenous languages  Religion:  Nominally Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 6%

 Regions  South – more like Central America  North – along U.S. Border  Central Plateau (heartland)

Present day Mexico City The capital of the Aztec Empire founded in 1325 Built on Lake Texcoco, divided into four zones Aztec legend of the City and the coat of arms One of the largest cities in the World

 Liberal-Conservative conflict  Destruction of economic infrastructure  Amerindians impoverished  Legitimacy of ruling elite weak

Settling Texas with Gringos backfires Mexican American War Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

 Defeat in Mexican war followed by more political chaos  French Intervention  Confusion of Liberal governments

 Positivism as “catch- up”  Dark side of “catch- up”  Concentration of land holdings  Exploitation of the labor force  Role of Foreigners  Emergence of generational strife

 1910 first of the great “social revolutions” that shook the world  In Mexico revolution originated with the ruling class  Anti-Porfirio Diaz and local bosses and landowners  Led by Francisco Madero  Huerta’s dictatorship & United States intervention  Descent into warlordism  Zapata  Pancho Villa  Venustiano Carranza and the Sonora elite

 Constitution of 1917  Article 3 – free, universal, secular education  Article 27 subsoil belongs to state  Article 123 worker rights  No reelection of the president and the “deal” between Obregón and Calles

 Sonora Elite maintained control during the 1930s  But era of massive social and political upheaval  Alvaro Obregon & Plutarco Calles  Calles finds his match in Lazaro Cardenas

 Encouraged urban workers and peasants to demand land and higher wages  Wave of strikes, protests, and petitions for breaking up large rural estates.  Most disputes settled by the government in favor of labor  Creation of large organizations for labor and peasants  Fundamentally reshaped political institutions  Presidency: primary institution of the political system  Sweeping powers but limited six year term  By 1940 more Mexicans included in the national political system

Miguel Alemán  AVILA CAMACHO ( ) approaches the private sector  Miguel Alemán ( )  First civilian president since the revolution  Slowing social reform  Increased industrialization

Paseo La Reforma: Mexico City  Cárdenas as godfather of the left  Alemán as godfather of the center  Institutionalization in structuring of the PRI  Labor sector  Peasant sector  Popular sector

 Mexican Political system as oriented by Cardenas – Aleman  Remarkably durable  PRI would become the world’s longest continuously ruling party (with the fall of the Soviet Communist Party)

 Political tensions increase in 1970’s  President Ordaz “dirty war”  Alledged execution of 700 enemies of the state  Economic roller-coaster  Good news: discovery of massive oil and natural gas resources  Collapsed and so did support for reform  Chiapas rebellion