AP Comparative Government
 Throughout Mexican history, Mexico has encountered authoritarian governments,
military dictatorships and democratic movements
 Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, after having been ruled since 1519
 The historical influence on Mexico can be broken into three parts:
 Colonialism
 Independence until the Revolution of 1910
 The 20th century after the revolution
 From 1519-1821, Spain controlled Mexico
 The Spanish instituted an elaborate social hierarchy throughout the nation
 Native Spaniards were at the top of that hierarchy
 Spaniards born in Mexico were right below native Spaniards
 In the middle of the hierarchy were mestizos. Mestizos were mixed race individuals who had both
native and Spanish ancestry
 Amerindians, or native individuals, were at the bottom of the social structure
 Cultural Heterogeneity:
 While 60% of the Mexican population is now of mestizo descent, there are still conflicts
between mestizo and Amerindian populations
 Those of Amerindian descent are primarily from areas south of Mexico City
 Catholicism:
 Most Spaniards live in or near Mexico City, but Spanish priests moved throughout Mexico
converting people to Christianity
 Economic dependency:
 Spain controlled Mexico’s economic fortunes with strict central control
 While Spain was able to reap great benefits from Mexico, they never fully realized the wealth of
resources that existed
 Miguel Hidalgo, a Mexican Parish priest, led a popular rebellion against Spanish
Rule in 1810
 After 11 years of conflict, Mexico was finally recognized as independent in 1821 by the
Spanish Government
 This new found independence was not stable though, as 36 presidents served between 1833 and
1855
 Instability and legitimacy issues:
 When the Spanish left Mexico, they took away the support of their government
 Since Mexico had a history of being dominated by a foreign power, forming a
government was very difficult
 Rise of the military:
 Due to government instability, military control was exercised throughout Mexico
 Santa Anna was one of the most famous military leaders of Mexico
 Domination by the United States:
 The U.S. was able to capitalize on Mexico's weakness and claimed over half of Mexico’s
territory in the Spanish American war.
 Mexico lost Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Utah, and part of Colorado.
 Liberal v Conservative Struggles:
 In 1857, Mexico established a constitution based upon democratic principles
 The building of a liberal democracy was pushed by Benito Juarez, an individual still celebrated as
a Mexican hero.
 The Mexican experiment with democracy was ended when a joint French, Spanish, and
English takeover of Mexico took place
 The leader of this joint takeover was assassinated in 1867 and Juarez was brought back into power
 Unfortunately this brought no peace to Mexican politics
 Parfirio Diaz
 Diaz was a general under Benito Juarez
 Diaz staged a coup with the promise that he would serve only one term in office
 Diaz ignored that pledge and ruled with absolute power for 34 years
 Diaz used cientificos, or a group of young advisors, who believed in scientific and economic
progress in Mexico
 The influences of the Porfiriato are:
 Stability:
 With Diaz in power, the years of chaos came to an end.
 His dictatorship brought about a stable government in Mexico
 Authoritarianism:
 This dictatorship forbade the sharing of political power with those beyond the small group of
elites within the government
 Foreign investment and economic growth:
 The cientificos encouraged entrepreneurship and foreign investment
 This led to great economic growth and many partnerships with the United States
 Growing gap between rich and poor:
 The quick economic development in Mexico led to a very wealthy elite and a wide base of poor
citizens
 Diaz was forced to abdicate his rule in 1911, after General Francisco Madero
pushed for his removal
 For the next 24 years warlords battled for control over Mexico
 The Influences of this era include:
 Patron-client system: In an attempt to seize power in Mexico, Caudillos (political/military
strongmen) rose to challenge one another for power
 Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa led peasant armies to try and establish their own power
 Each leader used the patron-client system to motivate support for the movements
 The majority of the Caudillos and their supporters were violently killed in competition for
power
 Constitution of 1917:
 The constitution ended the revolution but not the violence
 The constitution set the framework for a democratic government with three branches and
competitive elections
 Political assassinations were common throughout the 1920’s
 Conflict with the Catholic Church
 The Cristero Rebellion broke out in the 1920’s in an attempt to retain the voting rights of
priest and to reinstate church-affiliated schools and allow for church services
 The rebellion was not successful and some relics of the anti-Catholic movement still remain
 Very few of the laws are actually enforced today
 The Establishment of the PRI
 In 1929 the caudillos were brought together to make an agreement
 The agreement was to give each president one six-year term and then let another leader have his
term (sexenio)
 Other caudillos would then be given major positions in the government to establish their influence
 The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) was to stabilized and minimize conflict between the
leaders
 Other parties were allowed to run candidates for office, but the umbrella agreement precluded
them from winning
 From 1934-1940 Lazaro Cardenas rose to the Mexican presidency and brought
changes that included:
 Redistribution of Land:
 Land was taken away from big landlords and redistributed as ejidos, or collective land grants
 Nationalization of industry:
 Foreign business owners were kicked out of Mexico and industry was seized by the state
 PEMEX, a government controlled oil company was created
 Investments in public works:
 The government built roads, provided electricity, and created public services
 Encouragement of peasant and union organizations:
 The peasants and unions had the ear of Cardenas and many formed their own camarillas
with leaders who represented their respected groups
 Concentration of power in the presidency
 Cardenas stabilized the presidency, and he peacefully let go of his power at the end of his
sexenio (six year term)
 The industrial development plan that Cardenas used was called import substitution
industrialization
 This plan employs high tariffs to protect locally produced goods from foreign competition,
government ownership of key industries and government subsidies to domestic
industries
 Mexico is still an example of state corporatism
 The president determines who represents different groups to the government
 Miguel Aleman, a former Mexican president, set forth the Pendulum Theory
 Aleman pushed back against Cardenas’ socialist policies and pushed for more economic
liberalization
 Aleman was followed by a more socialist president who pushed the pendulum in the
opposite direction
 It was in the 1970’s when the pendulum stopped and the tecnicos took control of
the government
 The tecnicos are educated, business-oriented leaders
 The tecnicos subscribed to free-market approaches to the economy
 In the 1980’s Mexico practiced neoliberalism
 Neoliberalism is a strategy that calls for free markets, balanced budgets, privatization, free trade,
and limited government intervention in the economy