Citizens/Society State
By: Matt Ball, Prayag Pershad,
Chandler Brown, & Mackenzie Skipper
Population Pyramid
• Mexico is in stage 3 in the Demographic Transition Model (moderate
growth)
• Medical practices that were introduced in stage 2 are now beginning to
affect the population
• More people are more likely to live urban areas rather than on farms due to
industrial jobs
• Crude Birth Rate is beginning to drop due to more women in the work
force, medical advancements and decline in the Infant Mortality Rate
• Crude Death Rate begins to drop due to medical advancements
introduced in stage 2
• Number of elders increasing (a refelction of transition from stage 2 to
stage 3)
• Dependency Ratio (ages 0-14 and 75+) is increasing which means the
people in-between have the burden of supporting those people
• Sex ratio is even
Freedom House Information
• (definition) Freedom House: an organization that studies
democracy around the world, ranks countries on a 1 to 7
freedom scale, with 1 being the most free and 7 the
least.
• Mexico is rated a 3.
• PRI has monopolized the government and politics, it has
also left little to criticize the government or influence
public opinion.
• The government started to reward media companies that
supported the PRI.
Freedom House Information
• Mexico is becoming more democratic
since the PRI has lost some power in the
1980's.
• Citizens now have access to a broader
range of political opinions and freedom of
expression.
• Some other info Freedom House provided:
116 million people live in mexico, 9420
USD GNI and PPP
CLEAVAGES
Cleavages
• Cross-cutting (conflictual): divide
society into many potential groups that
conflict on one issue and cooperate on
another
• Coinciding (reinforcing): every dispute
aligns the same groups against each other
• Current trend: cross-cutting becoming
coinciding
Coinciding Cleavages
Urban, middle class mestizos (European and
Amerindian blend) from north
VS.
Rural, poor Amerindians (indigenous Mexicans)
from south
Mestizo
• Blend of European
and Amerindian
• Wealthier
• Urban residents
v. Amerindian
•
•
•
•
Indigenous people
Poorer
Live in rural areas
30% of population
Urban
• 75% urban
• Less-inclined to
support PRI
(Institutional
Revolutionary Party
• Receptive to political
and economic reform
v.
Rural
• PRI controls peasants
• Camarillas (patronclient system):
Political support in
exchange for small
favors from politicos
• Politicos: traditional
chiefs of camarillas
Social Class
Gini coefficient: indicates economic inequality . Mexico’s is .48 (high
disparity).
•
•
•
•
Middle Class-Rich
Top 10% earn 35.6% of
Mexican income
Growing middle class
More likely to support
PAN (National Action
Party)
More likely to vote
•
•
•
•
Poor
Bottom 10% earn 1.6%
High infant mortality rates
Low levels of education
Shorter life expectancy
North
• Dry and mountainous
• Prosperous from U.S.
trade
• Mostly Mestizo
• Higher incomes
• High education levels
– 8.1 years avg.
• Supportive of free
market
v.
•
•
•
•
•
South
Subtropical
More rural influence
More Amerindians
Lower avg. incomes
Low education levels
– 6 years avg.
• Source of Zapatista
Movement
– Rights for natives
Changes
• If poor continue to increase incomes faster
than average, they may join the middle
class.
• Spreading job opportunities to new regions
may reduce regional/ethnic cleavages.
Political Participation
• Revolutions and protests characterize
much political participation
• Mexicans used to be ruled by elites in an
authoritarian system
• Now, there are regular elections that are
becoming more and more legitimate.
Political Participation
• Patron-client system/patron-clientelism
– People received political support in exchange
for favors
– Stems from caudillos from the early 19th
century and warlordism
• Caudillos – leaders had supporters who he
granted favors to
– The groups made camarillas, which were hierarchical
networks where the exchange of offices and other
benefits occurred
– Patron-clientelism is still important
– Many citizens do not trust government officials
Political Participation
• Protests
– The government usually responds to protests
by giving in to demands and by including
citizens in the political process through cooptation
– After government soldiers killed over 200
student protesters in Tlatelolco Plaza in
1968, the next president recruited many
student activists and increased the
government’s spending on social services.
Political Participation
• Protests (continued)
– Zapatista Movement was a protest that
represented the Amerindians
• Voting
– Before the 1990s, elections were controlled
by the PRI
– Patron-clientelism caused high voting rates
Political Participation
• Voting
– Influenced by 3 main factors: region,
education, and income
• Region
– North – 47% for Felipe Calderón (PAN), 27% for Roberto
Madrazo (PRI), & 24% for Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador
(PRD)
– South – 29% for Calderón, 27% for Madrazo, & 40% for
Obrador
• Education
– Higher educated citizens were more likely to vote for
Calderón – 42% of those with a college education voted
for him
– 38% of college grads voted for Obrador and only 14%
voted for Madrazo
Political Participation
• Voting
– Influenced by 3 main factors: region,
education, and income
• Income
– Upper income – 50% for Calderón, 30% for Obrador, and
14% for Madrazo
Calderón
Obrador
* Percentages based on 2006 election
Madrazo
Civil Society
• Many groups refuse to cooperate with the PRI which create an
atmosphere where public protests are acceptable
• The PRI practiced state corporatism to ensure that no one group
challenged the government
• The PRI separated the interest groups into three sectors: labor,
peasants and the middle class (“popular”)
• The Confederation of Employers of the Mexican Republic (a labor
group) was an autonomous group that vocally and publicly criticized
the government
Civil Society Cont.
• A group of business men who were not incorporated into the
government’s system started the downfall of the PRI’s civil society
• The group formed PAN, a political party, in 1939 even though the
party did not successfully challenge the PRI until 2000 presidential
election with candidate Vicente Fox
• In 2006 the PAN victory improved business interests and broke up
the PRI’s old state corporatism
Women
• Number in both houses of legislature has
risen
– 113/500 House of Deputies
– 22/128 Senate
• 1996 election law:
– political parties must sponsor women
candidates
– 30% of party list in proportional and SMD
must be women
Women in Society
•
•
•
•
Rise in working force
Dominantly in domestic workforce
Mostly seen as home caretakers
Mostly teachers or nuns
That’s All!