• Geographic Diversity:– mountains, volcanoes, coast line, plateaus, fertile valleys.• Communication difficult• transportation difficult and expensive.

• Regions:– North—commercial agriculture.– South—small farms.

• Resources:– Rich in oil, silver and other natural resources.

• Population:– 100 million inhabitants.– The world’s eleventh most populous nation.

• Diversity:– Sixty per cent are mestizo-• mixed people with Amerindian and Spanish descent.

– Indigenous groups• Maya, Hahuatl. Over one million members each.

• Current form of government since 1917

• Mexico is a Federal-Republic – 31 States–More centralized than U.S. though

• 3 Branches of Government– System of Checks and Balances

• Structurally, very similar to U.S.A.• Practically, very different to U.S.A.

• Constitution of 1857:– It incorporated much of the goals of the liberals:• Democratic government• A bill of rights• L imitations on the power of the church.

• Constitution of 1917:– forged out of diverse and conflicting interests– Established a formal set of political institutions– Guaranteed citizens range of rights

• Today: – Long document, easily amended– Economic and social rights do not reach all

• One federal representative for every 200,000 citizens.– Currently (as of 2006 election) there are 500 deputies.• 300 "majority deputies" –are directly elected by plurality from single-member

districts • 200 "party deputies" are assigned through rules of

proportional representation– Seats are not tied to districts–Allocated to parties based on each party's share of the

national vote. –The 200 party deputies are intended to counterbalance

the sectional interests of the district-based representatives.

• The Chamber of Deputies is completely replaced every three years – All seats are subject to reelection and deputies are not

permitted to serve consecutive terms. – Congressional elections held halfway into the president's six

year mandate are known as mid-term elections.

• Historically, the Senate consisted of sixty-four members– Two members for each state – Two representing the Federal District elected by direct vote for

six-year terms.

• As part of the electoral reforms enacted by the Salinas government in 1993: – the Senate was doubled in size to 128 members, • Relative Majority (S.M.D)–Two for each of the 31 states – Two for the Federal District• Proportional Represenation (P.R.)–One for each of the 31 states –One for the Federal District, (awarded to the party who had

won the second highest number of votes within the state or Federal District);

• Thirty-two national senators-at-large, divided among the parties in proportion to their share of the national vote.

• Constitutionally, political parties in Mexico must 1) promote the participation of the people in the

democratic life of the country,2) contribute in the representation of the nation and

citizens, 3) be the access through which citizens can participate

in public office

• All political parties must be registered before the Federal Electoral Institute(IFE):

• Created in 1990, became independent in 1996• must obtain at least 2% of votes in the federal elections to

keep their registry. • Registered political parties receive public funding for their

operation and access to the media– can also obtain private funding within the limits prescribed by the

law.

• The politics of Mexico are dominated by three political parties1) (PRI) Institutional Revolutionary Party

(Partido Revolucionario Institucional) founded in 1929

2) (PAN) National Action Party (Partido Acción Nacional) founded in 1939;

3) (PRD) Party of the Democratic Revolution (Partido de la Revolución Democrática) founded in 1989

Although….the Ecologist Green Party of Mexico (PVEM) now overcoming the PRD.

o founded in 1986, but lost its registry on two consecutive elections; it has retained its registry since 1993;

Ecologist Green Party of MexicoPartido Verde Ecologista de México

LeaderJorge Emilio González Torres

Founded May 14, 1993 

IdeologyGreen politicsGreen conservatismNatural capitalism

Political position Centre-right

Party of the Democratic RevolutionPartido de la Revolución Democrática

Leader Jesus Ortega

Founded May 5, 1989

Ideology•Democratic socialism• Social democracy

Political position Left-wing

National Action PartyPartido Acción Nacional (PAN)

President César Nava

Founded 16 September 1939 

IdeologyConservatismLiberal conservatism,Christian Democracy

Political position Centre-right

Institutional Revolutionary PartyPartido Revolucionario Institucional

LeaderBeatriz Paredes Rangel

Founded

March 4, 1929 (PNR)March 30, 1938 (PRM)January 18, 1946 (PRI)

Ideology

Social democracySocial liberalism Democratic Nationalism

Political position Centre-left

• Founded by a coalition of political elites • Agreed that it was best to work out their

conflicts within a structure of compromise• 1930’s:

– Incorporated array of interests– Mass based party– Support from all classes

• For 70 years, principle activities included:– Generate support for government– Organize electorate and candidates– Distribute jobs– Fulfill patronage

• 1990’s: Party organization based upon corporate representation of class interests:1) Labor:

a) CTM: Confederation of Mexican Workers2) Peasants:

a) CNC: National Peasant Confederation• Organization of ejido and peasant unions and

regional associations3) Popular Sector:

a) CNOP: National Confederation of Popular Organizations• Small businesses• Community Based Groups• Public Employees

• Strongest support came from ejidatarios– Independent small farmers

• Grateful for and dependent upon rewards of land or jobs

LOSS OF POWER

WHY DID THEY LOSE POWER?

• Throughout the 20th century, PRI had an almost hegemonic power at the state and federal level– began to recede in the late

1980s. • 1989, that the first non-PRI

governor of a state was elected (at Baja California).

• 1997, that PRI lost its absolute majority at the Congress of the Union,

• 2000 the first non-PRI president was elected since 1929.

• Power was centralized1) Lost support in 80’s

when Presidents imposed harsh sanctions

a) Govt. cut public sector jobs

b) PRI had fewer resources

2) Suffered from internal tensions

• 1939-–Opposed the centralization and anticlericalism of

the PRI– Founded as an opposition party– Strongest in Northern States• Urban middle class• Private Sector

• Platform:1)Endorsing greater regional autonomy2)Less government intervention in the economy3)Clean and fair elections4)Reapproachment with the Catholic Church 5)Support for private and religious education

• Populist and Nationalist alternative (left of center)

• Started by Cuauhtemoc Cardenas- son of President– Demanded reform of the party and platform

emphasizing social justice– Felt PRI had been fraudulent

• ‘88 : Won 31.1% and 139 seats • ‘97: Won 125 seats in deputies and 16

seats in Senate – Became 1st popularly elected mayor of Mexico

City

• In the general election of 2000 it allied itself with the National Action Party (PAN) to create the "Alliance for Change"

• It was this PAN/PVEM alliance that carried Vicente Fox Quesada to his presidential victory.

• In the senatorial elections of the same date, the party won 5 out of 128 seats.

• The alliance broke down one year into Fox's administration

• In the July 2003 mid-term elections and various other local elections held since 2000 the PVEM has allied itself more frequently with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).– In this alliance it won 17 out of 500 seats in the Chamber of

Deputies.

• In the 2006 legislative elections the party won 17 out of 500 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 4 out of 128 Senators

MEXICO’S OTHER POLITICAL PARTIES COALITIONS

Labor Party (Partido del Trabajo, PT), founded in 1990

Convergence Party (Convergencia), founded in 1997

New Alliance (Nueva Alianza, PNA or PANAL), founded in 2005

Social Democratic Party (Partido Socialdemócrata), PASC) founded in 2005.

• Political parties are allowed to form alliances or coalitions to nominate candidates for any particular election.

• Proportional representation (plurinominal) seats are assigned to the coalition based

1) on the percentage of votes obtained in the election

2) and then the coalition re-assigns them to the constituent political parties.

• Once each party in the coalition has been assigned plurinominal seats, they do not necessarily continue to work as a coalition in government.

   PANPAN      PRDPRD

 Summary of the July 2009 Mexican Chamber of Deputies election results

Party Votes % (ofall votes)

Seats +/−  %

Institutional Revolutionary Party

12,591,855 36.68% 241 +135 48.2%

National Action Party

9,549,798 27.98% 147 −59 29.4%

Party of the Democratic Revolution

4,164,393 12.20% 72 −54 14.4%

Ecologist Green Party of Mexico

2,291,298 6.71% 17 ±0 3.4%

Labor Party 1,258,341 3.68% 9 −2 1.8%

New Alliance Party

1,164,999 3.41% 8 −1 1.6%

Convergence 850,777 2.49% 6 −12 1.2%

Social Democratic Party

353,261 1.03% 0 −5 —

Independents 62,101 0.18% 0 −2 —

Valid votes 32,286,823 94.61% 500 — 100.0%

Invalid votes 1,839,971 5.39% 

Total votes (turnout: %) 34,126,794 100.0%

Mexican legislative election, 2009All 500 seats to the Mexican Chamber of Deputies

July 5, 2009

Majority party Minority party Third party

Leader Beatriz Paredes Rangel Germán Martínez Alejandro Encinas

Party PRI PAN PRD

Leader since 2007 2007 July 2009

Last election 121 206 136

Seats won 241 147 72

Seat change +135 −59 −54

Popular vote 12,591,855 9,549,798 4,164,393

Percentage 48.2% 29.4% 14.4%

Swing +24.0% −11.8% -10.8%

Overall, voters tend to be:• Younger -Middle Class• Better Educated -Live in Urban Areas

Voters by Party:

PAN:•Northern States•Urban•Middle- Class professionals•Comfortable life styles•High school/ university education

PRI: •Rural areas or small towns•Less educated•Older or poorer

PRD:•Central states•Small town/urban areas•Young •Political activists•Vulnerable to economic changes

 Summary of the July 2006 Mexican presidential election resultsCandidates Party Votes %

Felipe Calderón National Action Party 15,000,284 35.89%

Andrés Manuel López Obrador

Coalition for the Good of All (PRD, PT, CV)

14,756,350 35.31%

Roberto MadrazoAlliance for Mexico

(PRI, PVEM)9,301,441 22.26%

Patricia MercadoSocial Democratic and

Peasant Alternative Party

1,128,850 2.70%

Roberto Campa Cifrián

New Alliance 401,804 0.96%

Write in 297,989 0.71%

Blank/Invalid 904,604 2.16%

Total 41,791,322 100.0%

 

Presidential Election Results Enrique Peña Nieto Institutional Revolutionary Party 18,727,398 38.15% Andrés Manuel López Obrador

Party of the Democratic Revolution 15,535,117 31.64% Josefina Vázquez Mota National Action Party 12,473,106 25.40% Registered voters/turnout 77,738,494 63.1% Source: PREP (98.95% of polling stations reporting) Gubernatorial elections

• Federal System• Each state has its own Constitution,

executive, unicameral legislature, judiciary• Municipalities (U.S. counties)

– Governed by populary elected mayors and councils– Receive funds from the Federal Government• Have little ability to raise their own money • Devolution has allowed/required them to become more

responsible• Governors:

– Until ‘88, all governors were from elected from PRI– 1989, a non-PRI governor was elected in Baja

California– By 2005, 13 states and the Fed Dist. Governed by

non-PRI

• Official Title: The Constitutional Citizen President of the United Mexican States

• Currently, the office of the President is considered to be revolutionary, – in that powers of office are derived from

the Revolutionary Constitution of 1917. – Another legacy of the Revolution is its

ban on re-election:• Mexican Presidents are currently limited to

one six-year term: Sexenio

Recent Former Presidents of Mexico

NameTerm of office

Political Party

Luis Echeverría

1970–1976

IRP

José López Portillo

1976- 1982

IRP

Miguel de la Madrid

1982–1988

IRP

Carlos Salinas de Gortari

1988–1994

IRP

Ernesto Zedillo

1994–2000

IRP

Vicente Fox

2000–2006

PAN

Felipe Calderon

2006-2012

PAN

Felipe Calderon

• 16TH President • National Action Party (PAN)• Center- Right Conservative• He has served as

– National President of the Party, – Federal Deputy– Secretary of Energy in Vicente

Fox's cabinet.• On July 2, 2006, the day of

the election, the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) announced that the race was too close– official vote count- won by a

narrow margin of 0.58%

FORMAL CONSTITUTIONAL POWERS INFORMAL POWERS

• Head of state• Head of government • Supreme Commander of the

Mexican armed forces. • Create Government agencies• Appoint Public Officials

• Manage Patronage machine for filling positions in government

• Make policy by decree

• (Powerful, but held to Constitution more strictly than Russia)

Decrees:• Have expiration dates•Can be issued by any one of the three branches•Have all the power of law but can not be changed except by the power that issued them•Limited in their extent (ie: Congress can use them for Federal Budget…Pres may suggest budget, but Congress decrees how to collect taxes and how to spend them…)

• If Congress is not in session, then the Permanent Commission elects a Provisional President (Presidente Provisional), and then calls Congress to an extraordinary session, at which point the process continues as below.– If the absence (death, impeachment, etc.) should occur in the first two

years of the term, Congress must elect, by a majority of votes in a secret ballot with a quorum of at least two-thirds of its members, an Interim President

– Congress must also call for elections in no less than 14 months and no more than 18 months after the absence of the President occurs;

– the person who wins those elections then will be President for the remainder of the original six-year presidential term.

• If the absence should occur in the last four years of the term, Congress (will select a Substitute President by a majority of votes in a secret ballot – The Substitute President will be President of the United Mexican States

until the end of the original six-year presidential term, at which point regular elections are held.

• No person who has already served as President, whether elected, Provisional, Interim, or Substitute, can be designated as Provisional, Interim, or Substitute President.

• Cabinet not in Constitution– 18 Secretaries of States (different offices)– 1 Federal Executive of Legal office– 1 Attorney General

• Under PRI, President usually selected those with whom he had worked over the years for both Cabinet and appointments– (unless he was creating a coalition)– This has been hard for PAN- limited

experienced people– Few women have ever held positions

The National Palace, or Palacio Nacional in Spanish), is the seat of the federal executive in Mexico. It is located

on Mexico City's main square, the Plaza de la Constitución (This site has been a palace for the ruling class of Mexico since the Aztec empire and much of the current palace's

building materials are from the original one that belonged to Moctezuma II.

• Executive Branch is large and powerful– 1.5 million employed in the bureaucracy– 1.5 million in state owned industries and

semiautonomous agencies– 1.5 in state and local governments

• The Para-Statal Sector– Composed of semi-autonomous or autonomous

government agencies• Produce goods and services

– Resulted from govt. support for development in post-WWII

– Mostly state owned services and utilities– Trimmed in 80’s but many still state owned.

• Most citizens committed to Political System (also criticize it)

• Aware of how it works• Clientalism- through connections, people able

to interact with public officials…– Impact? Significance?

• System tends to accommodate and use co-optation –What are these methods?–Why are they effective?

• Derives from Roman and Napoleonic Tradition• Highly formalized and explicit• No punitive damages allowed in court cases

– Exception: Amparo- individuals may ask for a writ of protection claiming that their Const. rights have been violated by specific govt. act or law

• Federal System composed – Supreme Court: Decided most important cases– Circuit Courts: Cases on appeal– District Courts: Where cases enter the system– Specialized courts for: labor, military, electoral

• Justices nominated by Pres, confirmed by Senate– Justices of the SCJN serve for fifteen years – are not eligible to serve a second term. – The justices elect the President of the Court to serve a four-year period• a given justice may serve more than one term as president, but not in

consecutive periods.• State Courts have subordinate role

– Although that is changing

• Has always struggled to not be taken advantage of:– Struggled after Spanish rule to create a stable, and

legitimate government– Soon after, Mexico lost half of its land to the United States. • Its northern territory of Texas claimed independence in a war

ending in 1836; this area was then annexed to the U.S. in 1845. • In 1848 a treaty ended a war between Mexico and the United

States, giving our nation the territory that is present day Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, California, and part of Colorado.

• Subservient North American continent:– Economically, politically, socially inferior– Resent American “invasions” but also dependent upon U.S.

for economy– Torn with position to take on U.S. interaction regarding

trade, immigration, etc. • Has worked to find legitimacy on the

international scene: NAFTA

MEXICO CITY — The Absolut vodka company apologized Saturday for an ad campaign depicting the southwestern U.S. as part of Mexico amid angry calls for a boycott by U.S. consumers. The campaign, which promotes ideal scenarios under the slogan “In an Absolut World,” showed a 1830s-era map when Mexico included California, Texas and other southwestern states. Mexico still resents losing that territory in the 1848 Mexican-American War and the fight for Texas independence. But the ads, which ran only in Mexico and have since ended, came as the United States builds up its border security amid an emotional debate over illegal immigration from their southern neighbor. More than a dozen calls to boycott Absolut were posted on michellemalkin.com, a Web site operated by conservative columnist Michelle Malkin. The ads sparked heated comment on a half-dozen other Internet sites and blogs.

“In no way was it meant to offend or disparage, nor does it advocate an altering of borders, nor does it lend support to any anti-American sentiment, nor does it reflect immigration issues,” Absolut said in a statement left on its consumer inquiry phone line. Some fringe U.S. groups also claim the land is rightfully part of Mexico, while extreme immigration foes argue parts of the U.S. already are being overtaken by Mexico. “In an Absolut world, a company that produces vodka fires its entire marketing department in a desperate attempt to win back enraged North American customers after a disastrous ad campaign backfires,” a person using the moniker “SalsaNChips” wrote on Malkin’s Web site.

A plan for comprehensive immigration reform designed to deal with an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States — the vast majority from Mexico — collapsed last summer under the emotional weight of the debate. Absolut said the ad was designed for a Mexican audience and intended to recall “a time which the population of Mexico might feel was more ideal.” “As a global company, we recognize that people in different parts of the world may lend different perspectives or interpret our ads in a different way than was intended in that market, and for that we apologize.” Vin & Sprit, Absolut’s Sweden-based parent company, will be acquired by French spirit maker Pernod Ricard SA under a deal reached last week.

Absolut apologizes for Mexican vodka ad

In post-revolutionary Mexico the nation adopted a strategy, state capitalism, in which the government guided the process of industrial and agricultural development.

Between 1942-1982 the PRI pursued a model of industrialization known as import substitution or import substituting industrialization. It promotes industrialization by encouraging domestic and international investment.

These included: credit and tax incentives to industrialists; maintaining low rates of inflation, and keeping wage demands low through subsidized food, housing, and health care.

This helped the nation’s economy grow between 1940 and 1960. Problems were that it limited potential growth since industrialists

could rely on government help, only large landowners benefitted from technological improvements, and providing benefits to workers was getting too expensive.

Thus the urban poor, the rural peasant and the indigenous groups were left behind.

Between 1978 and 1982, pushed by the need for more revenue and worried about inflation, Mexico was transformed into a major oil exporter.

As oil rose in the 80s, so did Mexico’s fortune. This President Portillo (1976-1982) invested in massive projects meant to reduce poverty and increase agricultural productivity.

Unfortunately this fortune did not limit the need to borrow money from other nations, to help finance investments and lavish consumer spending.

By 1982 Mexico’s foreign debt was $86 billion and the peso was seriously undervalued.

Oil also accounted for 78% of the country’s exports, making Mexico extremely vulnerable to oil prices around the world.

When Mexico announced in August 1982 that it could not pay the interest on its foreign debt, it caused serious recession in the nation and alarm around the world.

The next president, Carols Salinas, who won by a bare majority (50.7 %) tried to fix the economic situation.

Free market policies were put into place. Deregulation gave the private sector more freedom to pursue economic activities and less reason to seek special favors from the government.

Private investors bought government industries; ejidatarios (communal farmers) could now own individual plots of land.

New laws were created to encourage new banks and insurance companies.

President Zedillo continued this by pursuing New Federalism. This system attempted to give more power and budgetary responsibilities to local and state governments.

Because of economic repression and political conflicts, many Mexicans no longer supported the PRI.

By the 1996 elections, other parties were gaining seats in the legislature.

In 2000 Vicente Fox was elected as the first non-PRI president in seven decades. He represented the PAN (National Action Party).

Made little change: structural changes limited his ability to make reform; he lacked the congressional majority held by previous presidents. Also his relationship with President Bush was put on the backburner after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Mexico had more input on the international stage as a member of the Security Council in 2002. This put more strain, however on his relationship with Bush.

Mexico has a large and powerful bureaucracy; 1.5 million people are employed by the federal government.

Most of these are in Mexico City. State and local governments employ another 1.5

million. Mexico makes use of para-statals, semiautonomous

government agencies that produce goods and services for Mexico. One example is PEMEX, the state-owned oil company. Reforms since the 80s have cut back on these organizations.

The military plays a small role in Mexican politics, which is unusual for this part of the world.

All other sectors of government have been traditionally weaker than the executive branch, although recent reforms (Zedillo to Calderon) have tried to strengthen their power.

More amiable relationship with church

Fighting war on drugs hard Increasing power of local government 37 per cent of Mexicans said they

believed the conservative had won the vote only via fraud