AP Comparative Government
Practice: Kesselman p.191-192
1. Explain which powers President Zedillo give up in the 1990s.
- He gave up a number of traditional powers such as his power of selecting his PRI successor. He gave this
power up and instead let the party determine its candidate. This forced the party to take on unfamiliar
roles due to the president’s “abandonment” of presidential power.
2. Describe how the party system changed after PAN’s victory in 2000.
- Prior to the democratic transition of 2000, presidents were always members of the outgoing president’s
cabinet, but with the PAN victory in 2000, this tradition came to an end. Presidential candidates no longer
came from the previous president’s cabinet, with examples like Pena Nieto who did not serve in Fox’s or
Calderon’s cabinet, but rather just completed a term as the governor of the populous state of Mexico.
3. Explain how Mexico’s president selected the cabinet before 2000 and after 2000. (Provide substantial
examples from page 192)
4. Describe Mexico’s bureaucracy according to Kesselman page 192.
5. Define Parastatal sector. Describe the power of the parastatal sector in the 1970s and 1980s.
- The Parastatal sector is composed of semiautonomous or autonomous government agencies in which
many produced goods and services. Prior to the 1990s, this sector was extremely large and powerful. In
the 1970s, the government controlled oil through PEMEX, and food supplies through CONASUPO.
During this time period, the government was responsible for distributing food, credit, and farm
implements in rural areas. However, in the beginning of the 1980s, the economic policy reforms weakened
the parastatal sector.