Politics in Mexico
Mexico
• Population
– 109 million
– 1/3 the population of US
– Spanish, Amerindian
– Roman Catholic
• land area
– 2 million km2
– 1/5 the size of US
Colonial rule & independence
• Ancient Amerindian civilizations
• 3 centuries of Spanish rule
• war of independence 1810 - 1821
War between Mexico & U.S.
• US invaded in 1847
– Mexico City was occupied
– Mexican lost most of its territory
Revolution & new constitution
• Mexican Revolution (1910 - 1920)
– overthrew 3-decade dictatorship by Diaz
• new constitution of 1917
– state control of all natural resources
– subordination of the church to the state
– government’s right to redistribute land
– labor rights
• most provisions not implemented until ’30s
PRI dominance (1929-2000)
• Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)
• established by then president in 1929
• a mechanism for
– resolving conflicts
• sub-national personalistic political machines
– co-opting newly emerging interest groups
– legitimating the regime through elections
• most stable regime in Latin America
Democracy or not?
• 1950s and 1960s
– one-party democracy
– incomplete political
development
• 1960s and 1970s
– government’s massacre of
student protesters
– authoritarian system
• subject to qualifications
Democracy or not?
• part-free, part-authoritarian system
– has long defied easy classification:
– “selective democracy”
– “hard-line democracy”
– or “modernizing authoritarian regime”
• partly competitive elections
– not necessarily fair and honest
Turnout in national elections
Authoritarian regime
• Governments were more committed to
– maintaining political stability
– maintaining labor discipline
• than to
– expanding democratic freedoms
– protecting human rights
– mediating class conflict
• electoral fraud and selective repression
Pragmatic authoritarian regime
• Institutional system, not personalistic
– leadership renewal and executive succession
• inclusion and co-opt
– leaders of potential dissident groups
– new organizations for emerging interests
• repression
– student protests in 1960s and 1970s
– leftist militants in 1970s and 1980s
Constitutional structure
• On paper, Mexican government is much
like the U.S. government
• presidential system
• 3 branches of government
– legislative, executive, and judicial
– checks and balances
• federalism
– autonomy at the local level
Federal system
• Federalism enshrined in 1917 constitution
• often political centralism in practice
– concentration of decision-making power
•
•
•
•
level of govt. / share of public spending
Federal government
80%
Federal District & 31 states
16%
2,401 counties
4%
In practice
• Until late 1990s, Mexico’s system of
government was very different from U.S.
• highly centralized decision making
– few restraints on President’s authority
– President dominated legislature and judiciary
• PRI controlled
– both houses of the federal legislature
– most public offices (political appointees)
PRI’s political control
• Corporatist system of interest
representation
– relate citizens and social sectors to the state
– state-sanctioned organizations
PRI’s political control
• PRI itself was divided into 3 sectors
– labor sector
– peasant sector
– popular sector
• other organizations were affiliated with PRI
Decline of PRI
• From 1988 to 1991 PRI’s control of the
Congress was significantly weakened
– 260/500 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
– 60/64 seats in the Senate
• 1993 electoral reform
– expanded opposition parties presence
– in both Senate and the Chamber of Deputies
• divisions within PRI
PRI’s dilemma
• Transform from an official government
party to a competitive political party
• older, less educated, and low-income
voters
Opposition parties
• National Action Party (PAN)
– urban middle class
– also attracted conservative peasants and
urban working class
– large cities in Mexico
• except Mexico City
• Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD)
– Mexico City mayor
Mexican Chamber of Deputies Elections
(% seats won)
Party
1988
1991
1994
1997
2000
2003
PRI
52
64
60
48
42
45
PAN
20
18
24
24
41
31
PRD
15
13
14
25
11
19
Others
12
5
2
3
6
6
Source: Politics in Latin America, p. 348
Mexican Presidential Elections
(% popular vote)
Party
1988
1994
2000
2006
PRI
51
50
36
22
PAN
17
26
43
36
PRD
31
17
17
35
Others
1
7
4
5
2000 presidential election
• PAN candidate Vicente Fox won
• PRI’s 71-year monopoly over presidential
power in Mexico came to an end
2006 presidential election
• Calderon (PAN) 36%
• Obrador (PRD) 35%
• Madrazo (PRI) 22%
• Obrador and his supporters alleged that
the election was rigged
• Calderon took office in December 2006