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Mexico. Citizen, Society, and the State Chris Jung Pd 4. Cleavages. Urban-Rural Social Class Mestizo -Amerindian North-South Political Cleavages. Patron-Client System. Gives control to the government elite
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Mexico Citizen, Society, and the State Chris Jung Pd 4
Cleavages • Urban-Rural • Social Class • Mestizo-Amerindian • North-South • Political Cleavages
Patron-Client System • Gives control to the government elite • Camarilla: Hierarchy where offices and benefits were exchanged for votes and political support • Peasants in the camarilla often exchanged votes of PRI for personal benefits
Patron-Client System Cont. • This System explains some controversy about votes for presidential candidates • Many Mexican citizens distrust government officials and institutions.
Urban vs Rural • Mexico is over 75% urban with a 90% literacy rate • Urban voters are less likely to support PRI • Originally PRI and the patron client system were intended to use the rural illiterate citizens
Social Class • Gini coefficient ≈ .47, dropped .54 to .5 from 2002 to 2006 • Poorest 10% receive roughly 1.6% of Mexico’s income. • Wealthiest 10% receive roughly 35.6% of Mexico’s income.
Social Class Cont. • Affects infant morality rates, level of education, and life expectancies. • Middle to upper class are likely to vote and support PAN (Conservative)
Meztizovs Amerindian • Meztizo: Mixed European and Amerindian background • Amerindian: “Native,” before Europeans arrived. ie; Mayan, Aztec, Olmec • Tends to separate social classes
North vs South • North has a higher population and is more mountainous. • South is mostly subtropical and is less influenced by the US • Separates education, wealth, and economy.
Political Cleavages • North tends to be more conservative “blue” • South tends to be more left leaning “yellow”
Political Participation • Influenced by revolution and protests • Mexican citizens used to be subjects under Authoritarian rule by political elites • Now, citizens participate in greater legitimate elections
Protests • 1968 student protests for the Olympics in Mexico City got roughly 200 students killed in Tlatelolco Plaza • This resulted in the next president accepting more student activists in his administration • Chiapas rebellion in 1994 represented dissatisfied amerindians from prosperous mestizo populations.
Protests Cont. • Chiapas rebellion, sponsered by the Zapatista uprising, reminded Mexico that some citizens live in horrible conditions. • Protest in 2006 at Oaxaca began as a teacher’s strike to the capital, but grew as more activists joined. • Attempted to show how the PRI candidate, Ulises Ruiz the governor of Oaxaca State, won by fraud
Voter Behavior • PRI used to control elections from a national level to local • Corruption was abundant when challengers to the system were defeated with, “tacos,” aka stuffed ballot boxes • After 1990 political changes, voter turnout grew with it’s peak during 1994 when 78% of eligible citizens voted
Voter Behavior Influence • Region: In 2006, 47% of northern voters chose the PAN candidate. 40% of southern votes chose the PRD candidate. • Education: Higher educated citizens (college education) were more likely to vote for the PAN candidate. • Income: 50% of upper income voters chose PAN candidate.
Civil Society • Mexico had a surprising number of groups opposing PRI • PRI downfall started from PAN since they had the backing of powerful business interests • PAN’s victory by Vicente Fox in 2000 and 2006 led to PRI’s state corporatism breaking up
PRI • Practiced state corporatism • State Corporatism: Ensure that no one group can challenge the government • Divided interest groups into three sectors: laborers, peasants, and middle class
Statistics • http://www.electionresources.org/mx/maps/president.php?election=2012
Piñata Time • Who won the presidential election in 2000?
If you were generally a social democratic, would you rather vote for the PRI, PAN, PRD, or the PNA candidate?