1. Advanced Placement Comparative Government
Mexico
Advanced Placement Comparative Government

2. Sovereignty, Authority, and Power
Sources of power have fluctuated over time.
16th century to 1821 a Viceroy (appointed by the Spanish king) ruled.
Rule was centralized and authoritarian.
1821- mid 20th century, highly unstable.
Late 20th century, democratization is reshaping political life.

3. Sovereignty, Authority, and Power: Legitimacy
Most citizens consider their government and its power legitimate.
Source of powers:
Revolution of
Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) (formed in 1929 to stabilize political power.)
Today, sources of power changing

4. Sovereignty, Authority, and Power: Three stages of Political Development
Colonialism
The 19th and early 20th century
Current emphasis on economic development
Characteristics carried from one era to the next:
Authoritarianism
Populism: Based on peasant based revolutions (1810, 1910) with charismatic leaders.
Power plays/divisions within the elite: politicos vs. technicos.
Instability and legitimacy issues

5. Sovereignty, Authority, and Power: Political Culture
Unifiers:
Language
Religion
History
National Identity
Mass Culture

6. Sovereignty, Authority, and Power Political Culture
Women play minor role in Mexican Politics
Strong values associated with
machismo
Urbanization, more women in the workforce (30%). Will it change the political culture?
Camarillas- Patron-Client Networks which extend from the party elite to vote-mobilizing organizations (PRI losing control as more are educated and urbanization occurs)

7. Sovereignty, Authority, and Power Political Culture
4 Sub Cultures
Rural Indians who do not speak Spanish (10%) not active in politics
Older, poorly educated, rural, lower class, and female- “Subjects” reasonably aware of what the government is doing. Tolerate the system, assuming they can do little to change it. No political efficacy.
Regime’s supporters- Those who benefit from the system. Few of them.
Anti- PRI- emerging and growing

8. Sovereignty, Authority, and Power: Political Culture
Sense of National Identity
Religion: Roman Catholic Church has less importance in political matters
Patron-clientelism: System of cliques based on personal connections. (Corruption)
Economic Dependency: Spain/United States
Geographic Influence
Mountains and deserts, varied climates, natural resources (oil), long border with the United States, 106 million people, urban population.

9. Political and Economic Change
Authoritarian governments under colonial control of Spain and military dictatorships
19th century populist movements with democratic tendencies. (violence)
Early 20th century: period of chaos (Constitution of 1917 ended war, but not violence and established a democracy)
Stability regained by resorting to authoritarian tactics.
Recently, moving away from authoritarianism toward democracy

10. Political and Economic Change
Lazaro Cardenas ( ):
Redistributed the land: ejidos
Nationalization of industry: PEMEX
Investments in public works
Encouraged peasant and union organizations
Concentration of power in the presidency
Import substitution industrialization: state led development
State Corporatism still exists- president decides which organizations influence the government.

11. Political and Economic Change
Pendulum Theory: Subsequently, presidents have alternated from Cardena’s type of socialist reform to more free-market policies, until the 1970s.
Tecnicos: Educated, business-oriented leaders.
Instituted moderate free-market controls. (rotated between modernization and dependency)
Neoliberalism 1980s: Free markets, balanced budgets, privatization, free trade, and limited government intervention in the economy.

12. Citizens, Society, and the State
Cleavages
Urban v. Rural: 75% Urban
Social Class: Gini index .50: high)
Mestizo v. Amerindian: 30% Amerindian
North v. South: North- wealthy

13. Citizens, Society, and the State: Political Participation
Constitution:
Grants basic freedoms
Universal Suffrage (18)
No interference with religion, travel, private property, schools
Open press, debate
History of Human Rights violations (Strikes, Battle of the Streets) Limits Mexico as a Democracy

14. Citizens, Society, and the State: Political Participation
Patron Client System: Mexico seen as “semidemocratic”.
State Corporatism: state mediated among different groups to ensure no one group successfully challenged the government or party. (PRI)
Bought votes, stuffed ballot boxes, etc.
Controlled the Federal Election Commission- Electoral Alchemy: The way Mexican’s have used fraud to rig elections
An elaborate network of Camarillas: 15 million members
Members drawn to the PRI by their desire for power, not ideology
Reminiscent of the political machines in the US during the late 19th century (Boss Tweed)

15. Citizens, Society, and the State: Protests
Government usually responds to citizens demands by accommodating their demands through co-optation or including them in the political process.
1994: Zapatista uprising
Poor Chiapas region
Disaffected Amerindians
2006: Oaxaca uprising
Teacher strike escalated to include other groups
Went on for months
PRI Governor Ulises Ruiz won through corruption, escalates tensions
Fox sends in troops during last month in office
Ruiz still in office
Ongoing issue

16. Citizens, Society, and the State: Voter Behavior
Comparatively, Mexico is not repressive. PRI used means other than violence to stay in power (voter fraud)
Election Day: Very Festive. Free food if you voted for the PRI
High voter turnout: (Before 1988, PRI inflated turnout numbers, hard to measure)
% %
% Factors which influenced the election: Regionalism, Education, Income. (North-wealthy-well educated voted for PAN)

17. Citizens, Society, and the State: Civil Society
PRI practiced state corporatism. Allowed for a growing civil society.
Three types of interest groups: Labor, peasants and middle class (popular).
Each group was dominated by the PRI.
Confederation of Employers of the Mexican Republic: Autonomous group/criticized the government
What next? Neocorporatism- interests not government controls or Pluralism- independent interests have input, but don’t control.
Educational Workers’ Union (largest trade union): Negotiates salaries for teachers- a neocorporatist group that has great power over government decisions in education.

18. Political Institutions
Regime Type: until state corporatist structure- central authoritarian rule that allows input from interest groups outside of government.
Leaders of the Camarilla system linked civil society to the government.
Transition toward a liberal democracy and capitalism.

19. Political Institutions: Linkage Institutions
Political Parties:
PRI: A coalition of elites controlled through the corporatist structure and the patron-client system. Centrist.
PAN: Represents business interests opposed to centralization and anti-clericism. Right.
PRD: Difficulty identifying an ideology. Left. Andres Obrador Barely lost 2006 election.

20. Political Institutions: Linkage Institutions
Elections:
End of PRI rule change in electoral system reflected honest voting, gave opposition parties more seats = higher voter turnout (publicly funded elections)
Corporatism eroding - describes the way Mexicans are integrated into the political system via patron-client relations

21. Political Institutions: Linkage Institutions
Elections:
Similar to Germany
Electoral law combines single-member districts and proportional representation for the Chamber of Deputies. 500 Seats plurality, or single member districts proportional to party representation. (31 states and Mexico City)
The Senate has 128 directly elected members (3 from each of the 31 states and Mexico City)
The President is elected in a first-past-the-post (plurality) system.

22. Political Institutions: Linkage Institutions
The Media:
Media had no power to criticize the government as long as the PRI was in power.
Little influence over public opinion.
Rewarded by the PRI with special favors.
More independent since May criticize the government.

23. Political Institutions: Government Institutions
Federation Mexico is Federal Republic
Fox did not change the system (Did not have the votes in Congress)
Similar to US (constitutional theory and political reality are not the same)
Strong Presidential System
Bicameral Legislature (lower house elected from single-member districts of roughly equal size and an upper house giving each state two seats)
Separation of Power (Check and Balances)
Unlike the US- Semi-authoritarian and highly stable one-party system because of a number of mostly informal and temporary arrangements that became a lasting part of the Mexican landscape. How the PRI institutionalized the revolution.

24. Political Institutions: The Executive
6 year terms (sexenio)- only 1 term- a lot of power in a short amount of time
Initiate legislation- all bills of importance
Issue decrees on a wide variety of subjects (transfer of funds, authorize funds, implement laws)
Informal power- Control began before the election, placed his own team in place. (Chosen from the cabinet)
Selects all bureaucratic positions
Changed in US style campaign
Political life ends when you leave office

25. Political Institutions: The Bureaucracy
All posts were filled on patron-client relations
Today, the President is chosen from the Gobernacion, (internal security and administration of elections, cabinet post)
Fox broke tradition by appointing those not loyal to PAN to his Cabinet
Government bureaucracy (employs 1 in 5) not based on merit- change posts frequently- high turnover- can’t gain expertise- changing.
Large Para- Statal sector- composed of semiautonomous or autonomous government agencies. (Government owned companies would produce goods and services- PEMEX- Reform pushes for privatization)

26. Political Institutions: The Judiciary
Judiciary- Judicial Review (on paper) never overruled a government action.
Appointed for life but leave after 6 years

27. Political Institutions: The Legislative Branch
Chamber of Deputies: 3 year terms
Senate: 6 year terms, ½ elected every 3 years
Rubber stamp: Why?
May only serve one term
No seniority or expertise
Subservient to the President- all about who you know
PRI loyalists who were rewarded for years of work
1997 changed the system- PAN and PRD held the Chamber and blocked PRI legislation for the first time (gridlock)
Still no majority in either house, will take years to develop inter-party cooperation

28. The Federal System
31 States plus the Federal District (Mexico City) Each state has a governor and unicameral legislature
States divided into 2,000 municipalities. Each has a mayor and a municipal council
Have little power as the PRI dominates (15% of municipalities and 25% of governorships are controlled by opposition parties)
1997 PRD control in Mexico City
PAN controls the North

29. The Military
PRI has historically curbed the power of the military- Depoliticized
Disciplined force with professional officer corps
Defense and national security
Ties to drug lords?

30. Policies and Issues The Economy:
Mexican Miracle: Strong economic growth
Problems: Ginni index .50%, rapid and unplanned urbanization, and huge debt. (industrialization)
Reform: Cuts in government spending, debt reduction, and privatization
Ethnic Rebellions: Zapatistas (Chiapas region)

31. Policies and Issues Foreign policy Drug Trafficking Emigration Policy
Maquiladora and NAFTA
GATT/WTO
NAFTA