By: Alex Lopez
 Population
of about 100.2 Million
 Territory 761,602 sq Miles
 Independent since 1810 from Spain
 Religion Mainly Roman Catholic
 Languages: Spanish, Various Mayan, Mahuatl,
etc.
 Currency: Peso
 Climate: varies from tropical to desert
 Natural Resources: petroleum, silver, copper,
gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, timber.
 Revolution
of 1917
 Constitution
 The
 Era
Cardenas Upheaval
of Hegemonic Party Rule

Federal (Federal, State, Municipal)
 Legislative

Branch
Executive Branch
 Judicial
 Modeled
Branch
after the US Government on Paper
 Constitutional
Citizen President of the United
Mexican States
 Felipe Caldron
 Six-year presidential term
 Basic Election requirements, some based off
US presidential Requirements
 Can not be re-elected
 Elected by direct vote
 Number
of Seats: 128 senators
 Length of Term: 6 years
 Power: Foreign Affairs and Impeachment,
Enacting all public policy
 Election Process:
Each party nominates two candidates who run
and are elected together by direct vote. The
party of the two candidates that won the
second highest vote within the state or the
Federal District then assigns a senator to
occupy the third seat.
 Number
of Seats: 500 deputies
 Length of Term: 3 years
 Power: Fiscal Legislation, Enacting all public
policy
 Election Process:
-300 "majority deputies" are directly elected
by plurality from single-member districts
-200 "party deputies" are assigned through
rules of proportional representation
 Selection
Process: Proposed by the president
and approved by the senate
 Several Powers broken down by the different
courts.
 Current Head: Juan Nepomuceno Silva Meza:
Supreme Justice/Liberal
 The
president confers broad powers on
cabinet secretaries, although the cabinet
rarely meets as a single body. There is a
hierarchy of influence among the different
cabinet posts, and the power of a minister or
secretary varies, depending on the priorities
set by a particular president as well as the
resources available at the time.
 Three
 PRI:
Main Parties Run Mexico
centrist or even neoliberal party and
Centre-Left.
 PAN: Conservative and Centre-Right in the
Mexican political spectrum
 PRD: Left wing, democratic socialist party
 Political
Elite Recruitment: From middle
class, mainly born in Mexico city with
secondary education and a degree in
economics or public administration
 Voting, attending campaign rallies, and
petitioning public officials.
 Media
is the source of legitimacy
 Used
to be fined for speaking out against the
government
 Now
has full freedom, informs the public on
all issues.
 Is
a First world country
 Industrialized
 Several
Factors lead to it being an
Industrialized country
 Free
Market Economy
 State-Owned
Industries
 Part
of Several International Organizations
 Power
of the international Organizations
 Influence
of such organizations on Mexico
 Current
Pressing Political Issue: Illicit Drugs:
Drug tracking through Mexico to the US, and
cultivation of drugs in Mexico.
 Recent Policies: North Atlantic Free Trade
Agreement, National Solidarity Program, UN.
 Corporatist
system
 Divided into 3 sectors; labor, peasant and
popular
 Several Key interest groups; CTM,CNC, CNOP,
Roman Catholic Church
 Work the same as the US
 Lobbying, political pressure on leaders to in
act laws for supporters, political campaigns
rallies, pushing for social reforms
 Originally
the Mexican people put up with
corruption to extract benefits, but after the
horrible corruption with the Lopez Portillo
and Salinas administration, people no longer
wanted to put up with what they said was
drug money politics.
 Most people vote, though it is not mandatory
 Mestizo
(Amerindian-Spanish) 60%,
Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian
30%, white 9%, other 1%
 Roman Catholic 76.5%, Protestant 6.3%
(Pentecostal 1.4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.1%,
other 3.8%), other 0.3%, unspecified 13.8%,
none 3.1% (2000 census)
 No real ethnic clashes
 THE
BOOK
 CIA FACTBOOK