Mexico: Historical Traditions and Political Culture Overview

1. Mexico Modified from Mr. Caroddo’s Education Website at http://caroddoapclasses.com/id4.html

2. Geographic Influence • Natural Resources – petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, timber • U.S.-Mexican Border – 2,000 mile long border means relationships are inevitable (migration, dependency, conflict)

3. Population • Over 112 million people live in Mexico • 60% Mestizo • 30% Amerindian (Indigenous) • 10% other (European, Asian) • Most populated Spanish-speaking country in the world • 75% of Mexico’s population lives in urban areas (Mexico City’s population is nearly 9 million; it is the 16th largest city in the world) • Population in the northern part of Mexico is more prosperous than central and southern Mexico. The farther south, the greater the poverty.

4. Political Culture • National Identity: Mexicans share a strong sense of national identity, based on history, religion and language. • Clientelism: Mexican politics has a long history of patron client relationships.

5. Historical Traditions • Authoritarianism –Mexico has long tradition of authoritarian rule. Presidents still hold a great deal of power. • Populism – revolutions of 19th and 20th century had a significant peasant base; led by charismatic leaders that called for more rights for ordinary Mexicans, particularly indigenous citizens. The Zapatista movement is a reflection of this tradition

6. Historical Traditions • Power Plays/Divisions within Elite – There is a division within the elite over whether the politicos or tecnicos should run government. • Instability and Legitimacy Issues – Mexico’s political history is full of chaos, conflict, bloodshed, and violent resolution to political differences. Even though most Mexicans believe the government is legitimate, the current regime is unstable.

7. Legitimacy • Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) – helped legitimize the revolution, served as an important source of government legitimacy until the late 20th century • Constitution of 1917 – created a democratic, three-branch government, but allowed the PRI to stabilize and consolidate power. An authoritarian one party state was created but within a democratic framework.

8. Colonial Era • Cultural Heterogeneity – Spanish took control over numerous indigenous populations dominated by the Aztecs once they conquered Tenochtitlan • Mestizo – ethnic mixture of two peoples (European and indigenous) • Catholicism – most Spaniards settled in or near Mexico City, but Spanish priests settled throughout Mexico, converting the population to Christianity. Priests developed strong relationships with the people. • Economic Dependency – all trade wasdone with Spain • Spanish Hierarchy – elaborate political and social status hierarchy structure, with deference to elites

9. Independence • Instability and Legitimacy Issues – the Spanish left and took hierarchy structure with them; reorganizing government was difficult task; Mexico had 36 presidents from 1833-1855 • Rise of Military – Instability led to military control, ex. Santa Anna • U.S. Domination – US challenges Mexican land claims, Mexican-American War (1846-1848), Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (US gets TX, NM, CA, AZ, UT, part of CO)

10. The Us and Mexican Territory

11. “The Porfiriato” • Porfirio Diaz • Staged military coup in 1876 • Instituted himself as president of Mexico; promised he would serve no more than one term • Ruled Mexico for 34 years with an iron hand • Cientificos – young, educated advisors of Diaz who believed in bringing scientific and economic progress to Mexico

12. Influences of Porfiriato • Stability – Diaz dictatorship ended years of conflict and chaos • Authoritarianism – no sharing of political power beyond a small, closed elite group • Foreign Investment/Economic Growth – cientificos encouraged entrepreneurship and foreign investment, primarily from the U.S., which resulted in growth of business and industry • Growing Gap between Rich & Poor – as a result of development and industrialization

13. 20th Century • Porfirio Diaz was ousted in a coup by other elites dissatisfied with Diaz’s rule and sensitive to the greed of the Porfirians • Diaz abdicated to General Francisco Madero • Revolution of 1910 begins and warlordism (caudillos) and chaos would persist in Mexico until 1934

14. Influences of the Mexican Revolution • Patron-client System • Constitution of 1917 • Conflict with Catholic Church • Establishment of the PRI

15. Mexican Revolution • Patron-Client System – in an effort to unseat Diaz, caudillos rose to challenge each other for power. Popular leaders Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata emerged leading peasant armies. Around each leader a patron-clientsystem emerged that involved large numbers of citizens • Many caudillos were ultimately assassinated (including Villa and Zapata) • Large numbers of followers were also killed in the competing world of the caudillos

16. Constitution of 1917 • Ended the Revolution • The Mexican constitution is very long and easily amended • Set up structure for Democratic Government (political Institutions resemble those of the U.S.) • Three branches of Government • Competitive elections • Federalism

17. Conflict with the Church after Revolution • Although most Mexicans are Catholic, church and state are legally separate • Until recently, priests were not allowed to vote.

18. Establishment of PRI • PRI brings all caudillos under one big umbrella political party • Bring stability through the idea of “passing around” power from one leader to the next as the presidency changed hands • Sexenios – president could only serve one 6-year term • Other leaders would be given major positions in government to establish their influence • PRI- “institutionalized” the revolution by stabilizing conflict between leaders

19. Cardenas Upheaval(1934-1940) • Gave voice to peasant demands from the Revolution of 1910 • Charismatic leader • “The Roosevelt of Mexico” as labeled by American scholars

20. Cardenas’ Changes • Redistribution of Land – land was taken away from big landlords and foreigners and redistributed as ejidos – collective land grants – to be worked by peasants • Nationalization of Industry – foreign business owners were kicked out of country, most industry was put under control of the state. Ex: PEMEX – giant, government controlled oil company • Investment in Public Works – government builds roads, provides electricity, creates public services to modernize Mexico • Encouragement of Peasant and Union Organizations – Cardenas welcomes their input in government, they form their own camarillas with leaders that represent their interests on president’s cabinet • Concentration of Power in Presidency – Cardenas stabilizes presidency, when his sexenio was up he peacefully let go of power

21. Cardenas and ISI • Cardenas used a strategy of state-led development known as Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI) • Employs high tariffs to protect locally produced goods from foreign competition • Government ownership of key industries (PEMEX) • Government subsidies to domestic industries • Government takes the lead in promoting industrialization (very little capital in private hands during this era)

22. Pendulum Theory • Miguel Aleman becomes president in 1946 • Encouraged entrepreneurship • Foreign investment • Free-market strategies on exports • Followed by president who returned to Cardenas-style reform • Pendulum Theory –back-and-forth effect in Mexican politics from socialist reform to free-market economic development and back again. • By the 1970s the pendulum appeared to stop with the emergence of the tecnicos

23. Tecnicos • Tecnicos – educated, business-oriented leaders usually with degrees in economics, political science or business. • Tecnicos in the PRI espouse a free-market approach to the economy • By the 1980s Mexico had settled into an economic approach based upon Neoliberalism • Free markets • Balanced budgets • Privatization • Free trade • Limited government intervention in the economy

24. Mexico borrowed in “Petrodollars”

25. Tecnicos & Politicos • Mexico welcomed foreign investment • GNP experienced spectacular growth until the 1980s • This “Mexican Miracle”was based largely on huge supplies of natural gas and oil • Mexico became a model for developing states everywhere • During the oil bust in the early 1980s, prices of oil sunk the Mexican economy and inflated the value of the peso • This caused added political tension within the PRI • Division between the politicos – old style politicians who headed camarillas – and the tecnicos began to grow wider

26. Citizens, Society, & the State • Traditionally Mexican citizens have interacted with government through a patron-client system • Because camarillas so interwoven in Mexican politics, most people have had some contact with government during their lives • Clientelism has generally meant that the government had the upper hand through its ability to determine which interests to address and which to ignore • The role of citizens in Mexico is changing as political parties have become competitive and democracy becomes more firmly entrenched

27. Camarillas • Hierarchical network • Exchange of offices and other benefits for political support • Within the PRI, up until the election of 2000, most positions within the president’s cabinet were filled by supporters or heads of camarillas that the president wanted to appease • Peasants in camarillas received jobs, financial assistance, family advice, and even food & shelter in return for votes for the PRI.

28. Patron-Client System (Mexico) • Corporatism favors the largest businesses and labor unions • Patron-client system still very important in determining the nature of political participation • Modernization and legitimate democracy tend to break up the patron-client system as networks get blurred in large population centers, and more formal forms of participation are instituted

29. Political Participation • Historically characterized by revolution and protest • Mexican citizens have generally been subjects under authoritarian rule of the political elite • Citizens sometimes benefited from patronage, but legitimate channels to policy-makers were few • Today citizens participate through increasingly legitimate and regular elections

30. Cleavages • Urban vs. Rural –Today Mexico is 75% urban, with a literacy rate of about 90%. Urban voters are less likely to support PRI and are more receptive to political and economic reform • Mestizo vs. Amerindian – only about 10% of Mexicans speak indigenous languages, but about 30% consider themselves Amerindians. Amerindians are marginalized, predominantly rural, and poor. This cleavage tends to define social class, with most of Mexico’s wealth in the hands of the mestizo population. • North vs. South – The north is almost like a different country then the area south of Mexico City. Majority of educated citizens and Mexico’s wealth lies in the north. Southern Mexico is primarily populated by Amerindians, characterized and led by Zapatista Movement in Chiapas.

31. Protests • When citizens demands have gotten out of hand, the government generally responded by not only accommodating their demands, but by including them in the political process through cooptation • Tlatelolco (1968) – student protest led to a massacre by government troops. The next president recruited large numbers of students into government, increased spending on social services • Zapatista Uprising (1994) – Partly a reaction to NAFTA, the Chiapas rebellion reminded Mexicans that some people still lived in appalling conditions, and poverty and lack of education were still serious problems

32. Voter Behavior • Until 2000 • PRI controlled local, state, and national elections • Voting rates were high because of patron-client system • Election day was festive, accompanied by free food, music, and celebrations • Corruption extensive • Challengers easily defeated with tacos,” stuffed ballot boxes • 2000-2012 • Presence of competing parties, have existed since 1930s, but no real legitimacy until 1994 when electoral reforms were put in place • In 1988, 49% voter turnout. This election was marred by fraud. • 78% of eligible citizens voted in 1994, when election reform was promised • 64% voted in 2000, when PAN won the presidency

33. Factors influencing Voters • Age • Younger voters were more likely than older voters to support PAN, and older voters more likely to support the PRI • Education • More educated vote for PAN • Region • PRI is evenly supported throughout the regions of the country • PAN received majority of its support from the north and center-west

34. Mexico in Transition • Mexico is characterized by economic and political transition • Authoritarianism under the PRI has been replaced by competitive elections, which makes Mexico a transitional democracy • Economic dependency and underdevelopment are slowly being transformed as public policies support a free market economy, yet a backlash against neoliberalism has continued

35. Linkage Institutions • Mexico’s political parties, interest group, and media all worked to link Mexican citizens to their government • During the PRI era all of this took place under the authority of the PRI party so a true civil society did not exist • As democratization began and civil society began to develop, these structures were already in place, so activating democracy was easier than it would have been otherwise.

36. Political Parties • Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) • National Action Party (PAN) • Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD)

37. Voter Profiles • PRI – small town or rural, less educated, older, poorer • PAN – from the north, middle-class professional or business, urban, better educated (at least high school, some college) religious (or those less strict regarding separation of church & state) • PRD – younger, politically active, from the central states, some education, small town or urban

38. PRI • In power from 1920-2000, re-elected in 2012 • Corporatist structure –Party has ultimate authority, but other voices were heard by bringing interest groups under the umbrella of the party. Structure is not democratic, but allows for more input into government than other types of authoritarianism. • Patron-client system – party traditionally gets its support from rural areas where patron-client system is still in control. Patron-client system allowed the PRI to remain in control of Mexicans as long as majority of population was rural-based, this began to change in the late 1980s

39. PAN (Right of Center) • Represents business interests • PAN support strongest in the north • PAN generally considered PRI’s opposition to the Right • PAN candidate Vicente Fox won 2000 presidential election, Felipe Calderon won 2006 election • Platform • Regional autonomy • Less government intervention in the economy • Fair elections • Good relationship with Catholic Church • Support for private and religious education

40. PRD (Left of Center) • PRD considered PRI’s opposition to the Left • Presidential candidate in 1988 & 1994 was Cuahtemoc Cardenas (son of Lazaro Cardenas) • In 1988 Cardenas won 31.1% of the official vote, and PRD captured 139 seats in the Chamber of Deputies (500 total) • Many believe had it been an honest election Cardenas would have won • PRD has been plagued by poor organization, lack of charismatic leadership, and most importantly the lack of an economic alternative to the market-oriented policies of the PRI and PAN • Andres Lopez Obrador, former mayor of Mexico City, was the PRD candidate for president in the 2006 election. He lost by a slim margin to Calderon (PAN)

41. Elections • Citizens in Mexico directly elect the president, Chamber of Deputy Representatives, and Senators as well as most local & state officials. • Elections are generally competitive, specifically in urban areas

42. Elections • Each of Mexico’s 31 states elects three senators, 2 are determined by majority vote, the other is determined by whichever party receives the second highest number of votes • 32 senate seats are determined nationally through a system of proportional representation that divides the seats according to the number of votes cast for each party (128 Senate seats in total) • In the Chamber of Deputies, 300 seats are determined by plurality within single-member districts, and 200 are chosen by proportional representation

43. Election of 2000 • PAN/PRD candidate Vicente Fox won presidency (43% of the vote compared to 36% garnered for PRI candidate Francisco Labastida) • PAN captured 208 of 500 deputies in lower house • PRI captured 209 deputy seats in the lower house • PAN won 46 senate seats; PRI won 60 senate seats • New, competitive election system has encouraged coalitions to form to the right & left of the PRI • Split in votes has encourage gridlock, phenomenon unknown to Mexico under the old PRI-controlled governments • Election of 2006 – closely contested election, won by PAN candidate Felipe Calderon by narrow margin over PRD candidate Andres Lopez Obrador

44. Interest Groups & Popular Movements • Corporatist structure allowed for accommodation of interest group • Business Interests – networked with political leaders to protect the growth of commerce, finance, industry, and agriculture • Labor – accommodated within system, wage levels for union workers increased from 1940-1982, until economic crisis of lowering oil prices caused wages to drop. Power of union bosses has decreased as unions weaken and members become more independent • Rural/Peasant Organizations – encouraged under PRI through the ejido system that granted land from the government to these organizations. Since 1980s groups have demanded greater independence from the government, and supported movements for better prices for crops, and access to markets and credit. Joined with other groups to promote better education, health services, and environmental practices • Urban/Popular Movements – concerned about social welfare spending, city services, neighborhood improvement, economic development, feminism, and professional identity. As groups become more independent and grow in strength the government and political system must negotiate with them, and in doing so transform the political culture

45. Media • Part of the patron-client system under the PRI, with rewards and favors doled out in return for political support • Have become more independent as PRI-political structure has been reorganized • Many Mexicans have access to international newspapers, magazines, CNN and the BBC • “Toallagate” Scandal – overpriced towels at President Fox’s mansion • “Comes y te vas”– Fidel Castro-U.N. meeting incident

46. XVIII. Government Institutions • Mexico is a federal republic, though state and local governments have little independent power and few resources • Executive branch has held majority of the power historically • Legislative & Judicial branch followed the executive’s lead, rubber-stamping most presidential decisions • Mexico has traditionally been an authoritarian and corporatist regime

47. Executive Branch • Center of policy-making • Sexenio: non-renewable six-year term (Under PRI similar to dictator) • Selected successor • Appointed officials to all positions of power in the government • Named PRI candidates for other public offices • Until mid-1970s Mexican presidents were above criticism and people revered them as symbols of national progress and well-being • Managed huge patronage system • Control over “rubber-stamp” Congress • President Ernesto Zedillo (1994-2000) –relinquished number of traditional powers of the president, including naming the PRI candidate for the 2000 election • President Fox inherited the presidency in a time of transition • President still viewed as all powerful, but blamed for shortcomings • Harder for Fox to accomplish political goals without strong party support in the post-PRI Congress

48. Bureaucracy • About 1.5 million people employed by federal government (Most in Mexico City) • High & Middle level officials have a good deal of power • Under PRI corruption and bribes quite common amongst officials in the bureaucracy • Parastatal Sector – semiautonomous government agencies that often produce goods & services • PEMEX • After 1980’s oil bust reforms cut the number of para-statals, and many are now privately owned • President Fox tried unsuccessfully to privatize PEMEX

49. Legislature • Bicameral • Chamber of Deputies (500-member) • 300 deputies from single-member districts (plurality) • 200 deputies chosen by proportional representation • Senate (128-member) • 3 senators from each of the 31 states & the federal district(96) • Remaining 32 selected by proportional representation • All legislators directly elected • Until 1980s legislature remained under strict control of the president • PRI’s lost hold on legislature earlier than it did on the presidency • Lost majority in the Chamber of Deputies in 1997 • Women in both houses has risen significantly since 1996 election law required parties to sponsor female candidates • Parties must run at least 30% female candidates for proportional representation and single-member district elections • 113 of 500 deputies in Chamber are female • 20 of 128 Senators are also female

50. Judiciary • Strong judicial branch necessary for a country to operate on the “Rule of Law” • Mexico does not have an independent judiciary or judicial review system • Most laws are federal, limiting the authority of state courts • Supreme Court • On paper has judicial review, but it never overrules important government policy or actions • Historically has been controlled by the executive branch • Judges appointed for life, but in practice resigned at the beginning of each sexenio • President Ernesto Zedillo (1994-2000) attempted to strengthen courts by emphasizing the rule of law, he refused to interfere with court judgments and President Fox continued this policy • Fox tried to work for an independent judiciary but seems to have come up short on this endeavor