MEXICO

1. MEXICO Gabrielle Avery, Alix Glynn, Geoffrey Miller, Haley Roney

2. Head of State & Government Enrique Pena Nieto • The president is elected by direct, popular, universal suffrage. • Each term is six years

3. Powers of the Head of State & Govt. • Right to appoint Attorney General • Right to appoint Chief of police of the Federal District • Right to appoint Secretaries of State & all the members of the Mexican Executive Cabinet • Right to appoint all Mexican Ambassadors • Supreme power over the Army, Navy & Air Force • Power to declare war & peace • Power of negotiating foreign treaties • Power to issue decrees • Right to nominate supreme court justices • Power to veto laws • Right to introduce bills in congress for their construction

4. Legislative Branch • Name: Congress of the Union • Made up of the Chamber of Deputies (500) & Chamber of Senate (128) • Duties: discuss and pass laws as well as look over the activities of the executive branch • Elections: all deputies are elected in free universal elections every 3 years, the senate is the same except it is done every 6 years

5. Federal Government • Federal Republic with 31 states dividing the varied geography plus one federal district • Everyday law if left to Mexican states jurisdiction

6. Arrangement of Govt. • The constitution establishes 3 levels of government: the federal union, state governments, and municipal governments. • System is classified as political centralism, meaning that there is a concentration of decision making power at the federal level, although there are elections for local officials. • The National Solidarity Program was established to share revenue among the states, which shifted decision making authority over public education and health care to the states

7. Judicial Branch Powers * Constitutionally independent, has the authority to strike down laws rendered unconstitutional * Competitive examination for selecting most lower and appellate judges and law secretaries * Judicial review • Judges are selected by the president with the approval of the senate and serve life term

8. The Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary • A venue within the Judiciary of Mexico that specializes in electoral matters • Among its functions are resolving disputes arising within federal elections and certifying the validity of those elections • It compromises a permanent 7 member superior chamber, located in the Federal District, plus five Regional chambers, 1 in each of the circumscriptions into which the country is divided for purposes of organizing congressional elections

9. Bureaucracy • Part of the executive branch of the Mexican Govt. • Consists of 18 Secretaries of the State, head Federal Executive legal office and Attorney General • Officials from the legal and extended cabinet are subordinate to the president • In addition the legal executive cabinet level administration offices that report directly to the president of the republic

10. Political Recruitment • Predominantly from the middle class • 1910 revolution didn’t open it up to large numbers of people from peasant or urban laborer backgrounds • Drawn increasingly from the ranks of capitalinos • Becoming more enclosed and inbred • Shows considerable fluidity, the massive turnover of office holders every six years proves that

11. Media • Very open media, the government does not really sensor it. • They have all the normal types of media • Newspapers • Publishers • Radio stations • television

12. Legittimacy • Their level of legitimacy is rarely high, but it is not always at the rate it is now • Sources • Leadership • Independence

13. The Constitution • Ratified in 1917 • Certain Features • Sovereignty of the nation • Separations of powers • Federal System

14. Historical Evolutions • Mexico Revolution 1910 • 1846 war with the U.S. • French and Spanish war of 1861

15. Political Leaders Felipe Calderon Jose Porfillo Carlos Salinas

16. Ethnic Cleavage • Ethnicity • Class • Region • Women

17. Political Parties • Three major parties: PRI, PRD, PAN • PRI: The PRI party was founded on revolutionary ideology, but has since decreased. The party dominated all elections in Mexico for over six decades (1927-2000). These years are considered corrupt and the elections fixed. • PAN: Conservative, right leaning and Roman Catholic party that supports little government involvement in the economy (similar to U.S. Republican party). Developed to oppose the PRI in the early 1980’s and gained support from the northern states. • PRD: Left of center party. Many supporters are from Mexico City and south (poorer states) who joined because the PRI was too conservative.

18. Political Elites • Enrique Pena Nieto • Military • Determines who becomes presidential candidates • Combat drug war

19. Attitude of Citizens • Critical of government performance • Pessimistic about their ability to affect election outcomes • Growing distrust of Congress and the political parties • Mexicans are highly supportive of the political institutions that evolved from the Mexican Revolution

20. Interest Groups • Corporatist system • Patron-Client relationships • The Confederation de Trabajadores de Mexico (CTM): Labor sector • The Confederation National Campesina (CNC: Peasant sector • The Confederation National de OrganzacionesPopulares (CNOP): Popular sector

21. Supranational Organizations • GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) • NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) • WTO (World Trade Organization) • UN (United Nations) • Groups have led to Mexico’s globalization and economic stabilityand liberalization

22. PUBLIC POLICY • Needs of the government: • Increase number of jobs • Modernize education system • Equalize distribution of income • Eliminate developmental gap • Replace labor law with new statutes • Renovate energy sector • Eliminate narco-trafficking Comparative Politics Today

23. Recent Policies of Mexico Tax Reforms to Stimulate Savings Financial Regulation Reform Government Debt Management NBER Feb 1999 Martin Feldstein

24. Pew Research Center +/- 4.5% Error