MEXICO

Country Review

AP Comparative Government and Politics

#1-TYPE OF GOVERNMENT IN MEXICO

• -Mexico once had an authoritarian system of rule with one-party dominance held by the PRI.
• -Now it has Democratic Regime with a written constitutions and regular elections to determine who holds power
• Democratic Regime based on Federalism (division of power between the national government and the states) with a Constitution (1917) with 3 branches of government with an executive branch (president), a legislative branch (bicameral Congress), and a judicial branch (federal courts).

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#2-THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH IN MEXICO

• Mexico has a Presidential System of Government.
• Mexico’s President, is the head of state, head of government, commander in chief, and leader of the bureaucracy. The President can also approve domestic legislation and lead foreign policy
• -The president is restricted to one term in office that is 6 years long.
• -Because the President of Mexico can only serve one term this individual must “Pass the Post” to another person when their term is completed
• -The president appoints members of the cabinet with some positions needing approval of Mexico’s Senate.
• -The winning candidate for President is determined by Plurality which means they must secure a the most votes.
• -In Mexico, the legislature can impeach/remove the president

#3-THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH IN MEXICO

• Mexico’s congressional system is Bicameral. It consists of an elected lower house—the Chamber of Deputies—that approves legislation, levies taxes, and verifies outcomes of elections. The elected upper house, the Senate, holds the unique power to confirm presidential appointments to the Supreme Court, approve treaties, and approve federal intervention in state matters.
• Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies is partially directly elected in single-member district elections and partially elected in proportional representation of party list votes. Deputies have a four-term limit and each term is 3 years .
• Mexico’s Senate is partially directly elected in multi-member state elections (3 senators per state) and partially elected in proportional representation of party list votes. Senators have a two-term limit and each term is six years long.

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#4-THE JUDICIAL BRANCH IN MEXICO

• -Mexico follows Code Law: comprehensive system of written rules for criminal, commercial, and civil conduct

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• -The Mexican judiciary is in transition—the Supreme Court has the power of judicial review and subsequent

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• -Constitutional amendments have been implemented with the intent to make the system more independent and effective.

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• - In Mexico, Supreme Court magistrates are nominated by the president and approved by the Senate for a term of 15 years.

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• -In Mexico, the power of the judicial branch has improved its independence with constitutional amendments

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#5-POLITICAL PARTIES IN MEXICO

• -Mexico has a multiparty system (meaning they have multiple political parties that compete for votes)
• -PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party which held absolute power from 1929-2000.
• -PAN (National Action Party) which is very Conservative and it has the most support in Northern Mexico
• *PAN formed around discontented business owners who were not connected to the system (1939)
• -PRD (Party of the Democratic Revolution) it is Liberal political party that has the greatest deal of support in the Southern portion of Mexico
• -Morena: the National Regeneration Movement)emerged in 2014 and it is the newest political party in Mexico
• *Mexico’s current President López Obrador (2018-2024)is the party leader of the Morena.

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#6-INTEREST GROUPS, MEDIA, AND CIVIL SOCIETY IN MEXICO

Media

-Historically, there was no Transparency under the PRI rule from from 1929-2000

-Presently the PAN, PRD, and the Morena leaders allow for open media access among both domestic and international new agencies.

Interest Groups

Zapatistas or Chiapas uprising in Mexico in 2009 emerged in response to socioeconomic inequality and the negative impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

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#7-CLEAVAGES IN MEXICO

Ethnic Cleavages

• -In Mexico there are ethnic divisions between the Amerindian (indigenous) population and whites and mestizos,
• -There are more than 60 indigenous ethnic groups and languages spoken by the Amerindian population
• Regional Cleavages
• -There is a difference between the North which is more industrious with its maquiladora factories while the South’s main economic focus is on agriculture

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#7- REGIONAL CLEAVAGES IN MEXICO: ZAPATISTA AUTONOMOUS MUNICIPALITIES IN MEXICO

• -The Zapatista uprising of 1994 in the southern state of Chiapas highlighted how Mexico’s government had neglected these less affluent rural areas of the South while Northern Mexico benefitted from NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement.)
• -The Southern state of Chiapas is still partially controlled by Zapatista municipal authorities. They are governing with a level of autonomy formally unrecognized by the Mexican government.

“You are in Zapatista rebel territory. Here the people give the orders and the government obeys”

#8-DEMOGRAPHICS OF MEXICO

• Freedom House Index Mexico Rank 86 and Score 6.85
• Mexico’s 2020 population is estimated at 129,698,660
• - Mexico City is the most populous metropolitan town in the Western Hemisphere.
• -Mexico’s population continues to grow at a slow rate about 1.06%
• -Mexico’s fertility rate is 2.4 children per woman. 
• -Mexico’s life expectancy 75.15 years
• -Mexico’s literacy rate 95%
• Mexico’s GDP per capita: $9,946.03 (US dollars)
• The total land area is 1,943,950 Km2 (750,563 sq. miles)
• 83.8 % of the population is urban (108,074,410 people in 2020)

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#9-THE ECONOMY OF MEXICO

• -Mexico has a mixed economy, which means that it is made up of both privately-owned and state-owned companies
• -In Mexico, PEMEX was created as the state oil company
• -PEMEX helped turn Mexico into the world’s 6th largest oil exporter.
• -PEMEX is still government controlled and is still Mexico’s largest energy company, but President López Obrador did make pledges to reduce privatization reforms to PEMEX during his 2018 election campaign.
• Because of NAFTA, many Maquiladora manufacturing plants were constructed in Northern Mexico.
• *For example, GM (General Motors) moved automobiles factories to Mexico because of the cheaper Mexican labor.

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#10-PUBLIC POLICY: DOMESTIC POLICY IN MEXICO

Domestic Policy

-Mexico has protections in place to make sure voting is voluntary and secret, and that the ballots are counted accurately, so that political participation reflects the will of the people

-INE – Federal Election Commission: was created to protect the integrity of the elections in Mexico.

–The INE encourages restrictions on campaign finance, registers Mexican citizens to vote, brings in international watchers to ensure fair elections, and allows election monitoring by opposition party�

#10-PUBLIC POLICY: FOREIGN POLICY OF MEXICO

• Foreign Policy
• -To bolster their own developing industries, Mexico created import substitution industrialization (ISI) policies aimed at reducing foreign dependency by raising tariffs and encouraging local production of industrialized products (like those produced in maquiladoras).
• -Mexico, uses import substitution industrialization (ISI) policies which are foreign trade and economic policies to protect domestic businesses

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#11-SUPRANATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS THAT IMPACT MEXICO

• -Mexico’s participation in North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) eliminated trade barriers (tariffs) between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.
• Mexico’s participation in NAFTA contributed to the emergence of maquiladora factories in Northern Mexico
• In 2020, the US-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) Trade Agreement replaced NAFTA with updated protections for intellectual property, digital trade, financial services, labor rights and environmental obligations.

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#11-SUPRANATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS THAT IMPACT MEXICO

• -Mexico is a member of the United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization that promotes peace and security as well as develops friendly relations with its 193 member countries.
• -Mexico is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Bank, which are both UN organizations that try to improve trade barriers world-wide
• -Mexico’s membership in the WTO helps to settle trade disputes with other countries.
• Mexico’s membership in the World Bank allows it to seek bank loans to increase and improve its domestic infrastructure.
• -Mexico is a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which is an international financial institution with 190 countries as members working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world

#12-CURRENT ISSUES IN MEXICO

• -Drug Trafficking is a problem in Mexico

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• -Drug Cartels (found mainly in the Northern portion of Mexico) are competing to control distribution into the U.S.

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• -Drug Cartels in Northern Mexico bribe police officers and incite violence

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• -Mexico’s military is working to bring Drug Cartels under control

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