Transcript Mexico Overview

Mexico
Mexico
Mexico
Why study Mexico?
 It’s a close neighbor of the U.S., so Americans often feel they
understand things about Mexico that they may not
 Mexico is often characterized as a Newly Industrializing Country, with
relatively strong industrial power yet a frequently stagnant
economy & a great deal of poverty & high debt
 Cultural diversity includes a majority population of mestizos
 Historically strong relationship w/ U.S., particularly economic, in
both positive & negative ways, including NAFTA, debt, the
maquiladoras, the old Bracero program, immigration issues, drug
issues
 Mexico had a violent history granted a degree of stability with its
U.S.-style Constitution, yet until recently was predominantly a
single-party system
Mexico
Mexico - a profile:
Official Name: United Mexican States
Capital: Mexico City (federal district)
Area: 1,964,375 sq. km. (15th)
Languages: Spanish only (92%); Spanish/indigenous (5.7%);
Indigenous only (0.8%)
Population: 111,211,789 (July 2009 est.) (11th)
Population Density: 142/sq. mile
Population Growth Rate: 1.13% (121st)
Mexico - Political indicators:
System Type: Federal Republic
Constitution: 1917
Administration: Federal
Executive: President, elected by
popular vote for single 6-year term
(sexeño)
Legislature: Bicameral National
Congress: Senate (128 members, 96
SMD popular vote, 32 proportional for
6-year terms); Chamber of Deputies
(500 seats, 300 popular vote, 200
proportional for 3-year terms)
Mexico
Judiciary: Supreme Court of Justice
(Justices appt. by Pres. w/ Senate
consent)
Political Parties: National Action
Party (PAN); Institutional
Revolutionary Party (PRI); Party of
the Democratic Revolution (PRD);
smaller parties
Head of State: Pres. Felipe Calderon
(since Dec. 2006)
Head of Government: Pres. Felipe
Calderon (since Dec. 2006)
Suffrage: 18, universal & compulsory
Mexico
Mexico - Economic indicators:
Mexico - Social indicators:
GDP (PPP): $1.473 trillion (12th)
Infant Mortality: 18.42/1000 births
GDP (PPP)/Capita: $13,200 (83rd)
Life Expectancy: 76.06 (ave.); 73.25
(male); 79 (female)
Debt (Ext.): 177 billion (28th)
Arable Land: 12.66%
Distribution of GDP: Agriculture
4.1%; Industry 34.5%; Services
61.3%
Urban Population: 77%
Literacy: 91%
Religions: Roman Catholic 76.5%;
Protestant 6.3%; other/unspecified
Military: Male 18 for 1-year
compulsory service (Army only;
Navy/Air Force volunteer); 16
with consent for voluntary; women
eligible for voluntary
Mexico
1810
Independence declared, leads to a century of
uncertainty (Iturbide, Santa Anna)
18761911
Porfirio Diaz – the Porfiriato brings stability, but...
• Investment/infrastructure
• Haciendas
• Revolts (Zapata, Villa); strikes
1911
Ten Tragic Days (Madero overthrown by his own
general w/ U.S. help), more chaos
1917
New Constitution
• Principle of Non-Reelection: Sexeños
• No foreign ownership
• Breakup of haciendas
1929
Creation of Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)
• “Regularizes” government
• Halts land, other reforms
• Beginning of PRI control…
Mexico
1934
1946
Lazaro Cárdenas
• Marxist leanings
• Agrarian reform: land taken from haciendas
• Ejidos: collective/cooperative farms
• Nationalizes oil industry: PEMEX (allows for
rapid industrial & economic growth)
• Import Substitution
• Established Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM),
peasant organizations (corporatism)
• Forced to slow reforms due to increasing protests
• Chose a non-reformer as his successor, disappeared
from politics; and so begins….the Pendulum
Effect
• Alemán establishes state control: PEMEX, much of
private sector
1980s
Economic crisis: IMF loans & rise of the tecnicos, push
toward market reform, rise in electoral fraud by PRI
1994
Ernesto Zedillo - last PRI Pres; PRI “loses” 1997
congressionals; Cárdenas (PRD) mayor Mexico City
Mexico
So, why is the 2000 election considered
a “historic” election for Mexico?
Mexico
Political Culture:
 Strong sense of national identity – why?
 Authoritarianism & corruption – why the high level of
“acceptance”?
 Camarillas – what are they, & what do they remind you of?
• Where is the majority of political power in Mexican
society, & why?
 What are the key cleavages in Mexican society?
Mexico
Political Participation:
 Procedural (illiberal) democracy, or Substantive (liberal)
democracy?
 How did the PRI maintain its dominance for such an
extended period of time?
• Focus on power, not ideology (remember pendulum effect)
• Controlled the Federal Election Commission (FEC) (1997 replaced by independent Federal Election Institute)
• Practiced corporatism
o Created/controlled interest groups (like CTM)
o PRI-controlled organizations provided services,
tying the people to the regime
o Institutionalized corruption, which still exists to a
significant degree
Mexico
Political Parties:
 PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party)
• Oxymoronically-named??
• Still maintains many connections, but
weak
 PAN (National Action Party)
• Catch-all, pro-business party (consider
economics!)
 PRD (Party of the Democratic Revolution)
• Established by son of Cárdenas
• Populist, leftist orientation
• Probably won the 1988 presidential
election
Mexico
Political Structure - The Mexican State:
 What does the Mexican Constitution (1917) “look like”?
• Federalist system
• Bicameral legislature
• Executive headed by a president
• Supreme Court of Justice (but no judicial review)
• Separation of powers
• System of checks & balances
• Governed by principle of non-reelection
 Is this how it worked in practice? Why or why not?
Mexico
Executive Branch:
 Under the PRI:
• Principle of non-reelection gave president enormous latitude in
appointing government positions
• Power was held by party leadership/president, somewhat
similar to Soviet Union/China
 Formal Powers:
• Power to initiate legislation
• Power to issue decrees on a number of issues
o Law implementation
o Fund transfers
Mexico
Executive Branch:
 Informal Powers:
• (Under PRI) Selection of successor (from small pool of top
party officials)
• (Under PRI) Successor would then (before election) pick
candidates for legislative seats
• In 1999, shift to U.S.-style primary system (PRI pres. still
announced his choice & party supported)
Mexico
Executive Branch:
 Cabinet & Bureaucracy:
• Historically chosen from president’s personal camarilla
(changed w/ Fox)
• Historically changed with each sexeño, thus minimal
expertise – why is this a problem?
 Military:
• Historically (early 20th century) – enormous power, source
of coups; today, it’s de-politicized
• Big problem today: corruption (what’s the biggest source?)
Mexico
Legislative Branch:
 Chamber of Deputies
• 3 year terms, single-term limit
• 300 seats popular vote/SMD; 200 seats proportional
representation
• Prior to 2000, nominees selected by President/successor
 Senate
• 6 year terms, single-term limit
• Again, prior to 2000…
 Authority
• Approves legislation (although historically has been a
“rubber-stamp” of presidential initiatives)
• No single party has a majority today – problem?
Mexico
Judicial Branch – Supreme Court of Justice:
 Not much to say here…
• Officially, appointed for 15 years terms (w/ no second
term), but under the PRI’s domination…
• No judicial review, thus no true independence
Mexico
Policy – The Economy:
 The Mexican Miracle (1940s to ~1970s/80)
• Import Substitution, low-tech, heavy focus on oil
o Can’t keep up with technology due to policy
• Nationalization  gov’t spending increases, o.k. until oil
incomes crash
• Banks nationalized, inflation peaks at 157% in 1987
• $8 billion borrowed from IMF – but requires replace of
import substitution model with structural adjustment
model
Mexico
Policy – The Economy:
 4-Prong Reform
• Debt reduction policy
• Massive spending cuts
• Privatization
o Sold many parastatals
o Re-privatized banks
o Corruption: lots of money ends up in PRI client hands
• Open economy (required by IMF)
o Open up foreign investments
 Increase in foreign firms (low wages!)
 Lots of money goes to foreign investors, not
Mexicans, but there is an increasingly large
middle-class
o Structural adjustment policy
Mexico
U.S.-Mexico Relations:
 History
• Before Cárdenas’ nationalization, U.S. dominated economy
• Bracero program during WWII
• U.S. pressed for debt negotiations w/ IMF in 1980s – effect?
• Supported PAN as pro-capitalist alternative to PRI
 Generalizations
• Some resentment of appearance of U.S. domination, some
suspicion
• Somewhat leftist foreign policy, but no open conflict w/
U.S.
Mexico
U.S.-Mexico Relations:
 Immigration
• Cyclical relationship since WWII
 Drugs