1. Measuring Development-A Review Mexico-A Developing Country

2. Mexico in Transition Mexico characterized by economic and political transition Authoritarianism under the PRI has been replaced by competitive elections, although political hostilities still exist Economic dependency and underdevelopment slowly being transformed as public policies have been supportive of a free market economy, yet a backlash against neoliberalism has continued “Developed”, “Developing”, or “Less Developed”, how do we classify Mexico? Regime type: from corporatist structure to transitional democracy

3. 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. PPP – Purchasing Power Parity – takes into account cost of living in a particular country figuring out what it costs to buy the same goods in different countries (Mexico is $9800 per year) HDI – Human Development Index – longevity, knowledge, 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

4. 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.