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CITIZENS, SOCIETY, AND THE STATE

CITIZENS, SOCIETY, AND THE STATE. CITIZENS, SOCIETY, and the State: BACKGROUND. Mexican citizens have interacted with their government through an informal patron-client relationship Government has upper hand in determining which interests to respond to and which interests to ignore

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CITIZENS, SOCIETY, AND THE STATE

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  1. CITIZENS, SOCIETY, AND THE STATE

  2. CITIZENS, SOCIETY, and the State: BACKGROUND • Mexican citizens have interacted with their government through an informal patron-client relationship • Government has upper hand in determining which interests to respond to and which interests to ignore • Recently, political parties have become more competitive and democratic

  3. Cleavages • Cleavages of Mexico are often crosscutting, but have recently coincided as the north and south have been at odds. • Cleavages with the most direct impact on political system are: • Social class • Urban v. rural • Mestizo v. Amerindian • North v. South

  4. RURAL: EARLY 20th Century URBAN: PRESENT DAY • PRI and the patron-client system controlled largely illiterate peasants in exchange for support • Today’s Mexico is more than 75% urban • Literacy rate is about 90% • Voters are less inclined to support the PRI • Often receptive to political and economic reform Urban v. Rural

  5. Urban v. Rural Cleavage

  6. MESTIZO AMERINDIAN • A blend of European and Amerindian descent • Possess most of Mexico’s wealth • More likely to live in poverty in marginalized rural areas • As many as 30% of Mexicans consider themselves Amerindian MESTIZO V. AMERINDIAN

  7. NORTH SOUTH • Very dry and mountainous • Population is more prosperous • Substantial middle class with relatively high levels of education • Generally more supportive of a market-based economy • Largely subtropical • Generally less influenced by urban areas and the U.S. • Larger amount of population is Amerindian • Lower average income than in the North • Less educational opportunities and skilled labor • Distrustful of central government NORTH V. SOUTH

  8. SOCIAL CLASS • Gini coefficient was .48 in 2009 (economic inequality is high) • In 2002: • The poorest 10% of the population earned about 1.6% of Mexico’s income • The wealthiest 10% earned 35.6% of Mexico's income • This economic divide translates into higher infant mortality rates, lower levels of education, and shorter life expectancies among the poor • Mexico’s middle class has been growing due to the “informal economy” and from new industries and service businesses

  9. Political Participation in Mexico

  10. History of Political Participation • Mexico’s culture of political participation has been characterized by revolution and protest since the Revolution of 1910-1911 • However, most Mexicans have been subject to authoritarian rule by an elite class, especially under the PRI (PartidoRevolucionarioInstitucional) • The PRI dominated Mexican politics for most of the 20th century (beginning in 1929)

  11. History of Political Participation • Revolution and Protest: • Revolution of 1910-1911 • Caudillos (Warlords): Formation of PRI under President Calles in 1929 • 1968 Student Protest in Tlatelolco Plaza • 1994 Zapatista Uprising • 2006 Oaxaca Protest

  12. History of Political Participation Left: a 1968 student propaganda poster Above: Subcomandante Marcos, leader of the Zapatista Rebellion

  13. The Patron-Client System • Political system emphasizes compromise among elites • Behind-the-scenes conflict resolution encouraged • Distribution of rewards to contacts and supporters • Rooted in the PRI’s camarilla system, which granted peasants and supporters job and security benefits in exchange for votes

  14. The Patron-Client System • Still a determining factor in political participation today, especially in regional elections • 2006 Presidential Election: losing candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador accused the PAN party of election fraud based in the camarilla system

  15. Voter Behavior • Before the 1990s, the PRI controlled elections on the local, state, and national levels • However, competing parties have existed since the 1930s • Voter turnout was high in the 1994 (78% turnout), but has since declined (60% turnout in 2006)

  16. Voter Behavior • Some factors that influenced voter behavior in the election of 2006 were: • Region (North v. South) • Education (university education v. uneducated poor) • Income

  17. Civil Society in Mexico

  18. Linkage Institutions-Political Parties • PAN • Party to the right of PRI • PRI’s oldest opposition party • Advocates less government intervention • Appeals to middle class, northerners, and the educated. • PRI • Ruled as a one party system • Corporatist structure • Patron-client system • Appeals to rural people, and residents of southern Mexico • PRD • Party left of the PRI • Appeals to the young, populists, and some intellectuals

  19. Media • The media had little power to criticize or to influence opinion because of the PRI • Media became more independent in the 1980s as he PRI began to lose is hold • Today there are many more international news sources such as CNN and BBC • Mexicans now have access to a much broader range of political opinions

  20. Interest Groups • The Mexican government responds to demands of interest groups through accommodation and co-optation • Because private organizations have been linked to the government for so long, development of Mexico's civil society has been slow • In rural areas, peasant organizations are encouraged through he ejido system which grants land to these organizations from the government • Since 1980 these groups have demanded greater independence from the government • In recent years they have come together to promote better education, health services, and environmental protections • As these groups have strengthened, the political system has had to negotiate with them, transforming civil society

  21. Women’s Role in Mexico • In the early 20th century, women had few political rights • 1922: region of Yucatan gives women political rights to vote in local and regional elections • 1947: Women allowed to run for office at municipal levels • 1953: Full women’s suffrage granted to all provinces

  22. Women’s Role in Mexico • Women have traditionally been responsible for household maintenance and child rearing • Women were important in the Mexican revolutions of the early 1900s • Lost much of their political influence under President Porfirio Diaz • Women and children have been traditional targets of human trafficking since the early 20th century • Women played a significant role in the Mexican Student Movement of 1968, protesting for income and opportunity equality

  23. Women’s Role in Mexico • Today, women are an important force in Mexican politics: parties are bound by law to run at least 30% women for the proportional representation elections • However, no major party has yet fielded a female presidential candidate, although the minor party Social Democrats and Farmers ran Patricia Mercado in 2006

  24. Maria Antonieta Perez Reyes A representative of the province of Juarez in the Mexican Congress.

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