Understanding Mexico's Competitive Party Systems and Elections

1. MEXICO Part 3

2. Competitive party systems

3. elections • direct election of president, Chamber of Deputies representatives and senators • typical voting patterns: • PRI: small town or rural, less educated, older, poorer • PAN: north, middle-class professional or business, urban, better educated, religious • PRD: younger, politically active, from central states, some education, small town or urban, some middle class/older supporters

4. elections, cont. • elections are most competitive in urban areas • under PRI control, elections considered fraudulent; pressure since 19898 to have fairer elections • competitive elections have generated coalitions to the left and to the right of PRI, but may also encourage gridlock

5. electoral system: • president: elected through ‘first-past-the-post’ (plurality) system • members of congress: dual system of first-past and proportional representation • introduced in a major reform law in 1986, gave power to parties challenging PRI’s control • each of 31 states elects 3 senators, plus 32 seats determined nationally • lower house (Chamber of Deputies): 300 seats determined by plurality within single-member districts, 200 by proportional representation

6. Government institutions • Mexico: a federal republic • traditionally, executive has dominated • constitutionally, Mexico’s government structure resembles USA: • 3 branches of government, checks and balances, some direct election • unlike USA, Mexico’s constitution easily amended

7. the executive: • since formation of PRI, policymaking centered on Presdient • through patron-client system, president was virtual dictator for his sexenio • selected his successor, made all appointments to positions of power in government and in PRI, named candidates for state and local offices • the bureaucracy: • extremely large • paid very little, but those a high levels have much power • under PRI, parastatal sector was huge • number is now decreasing, but Fox’s efforts to privatize PEMEX were unsuccessful

8. the legislature: • bicameral • 128-member Senate, 500-member Chamber of Deputies • all directly elected (senators for 6-year term, deputies for 3-year term) • PRI lost influence over legislature as well as presidency • number of women in both houses has risen significantly • the judiciary: • Mexico does not yet have an independent judiciary or any system of judicial review • Constitution is easily amended • federal and state courts, but most laws are federal • movement toward independent judiciary and role of courts in protecting basic freedoms

9. the military: • dominated Mexican politics throughout 19th and early 20th centuries • PRI credited with de-politicizing the military • tendency to dole out favors to the military  led to strong ties between military officers and the drug trade

10. policies and issues • the economy: • collapse in 1982  improvement  nosedive after global economic crises of 2008 • standard of living increased greatly since 1940s, but gap between rich and poor still wide • the “Mexican Miracle”: 1940 - 1960 • economy grew by > 6% annually • industrial production rose 9% annually • agriculture’s share of total production dropped from 25% to 11% • manufacturing rose from 25% to 34% • little inflation

11. economy, cont. • problems: • income maldistribution • rarid and unplanned urbanization • growth based on oiol • Mexican government borrowed heavily on expected continued high oil prices • Mexico’s economy plummeted along with oil prices in 1980s • debt exceeded $100 billion (70% of GNP) • dramatic turnaround • sharp cuts in government spending • debt reduction • privatization • economy has diversified, less dependent on oil • efforts to privatize, reform PEMEX stalled

12. foreign policy: • Mexico’s foreign policy more focued on USA than any other country, but Mexican leaders have recently asserted themselves in international forums • maquiladora and NAFTA: • 1960, manufacturing zone created in northern Mexico near USA border • produced consumer goods for U.S • plants created to transform imported, duty-free components or raw materials into finished industrial products • NAFTA: signed in 1995, eliminated trade barriers

13. foreign policy, cont. • other trade agreements intended to globalize Mexico’s economy and pay off debt: • GATT/WTO • General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade • multilateral agreement, promotes freer trade mong countries • WTO created from GATT • NAFTA: goal – more closely integrate economies by eliminating tariffs and reducing restrictions on international expansion of companies • immigration policy: • NAFTA does not allow free flow of labor across borders • Mexico seeks guest worker program, increased visas amnesty • USA: post-9/11 security risks, public opinion

14. drug trafficking: • major problem for both countires • Mexico: massive corruption, massive violence, massive profit • ethnic conflict: • EZLN began in 1994 in Chiapas in protest to the signing of NAFTA • demands: jobs, land, housing, health care, education, independence • President Fox continues negotiations • democratization and electoral reform: • reforms in 1990s • CFE: independent regulatory body • 1994: assassination of PRI candidate • replacement of PRI leadership