Mexican Political Institutions, Political Parties, Elections

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

Executive Branch Current powers: Center of policy-making Directly elected Sexenio: non-renewable six-year term President’s powers under PRI system: Selected successor Appointed officials to ALL positions of power in the government Managed huge patronage system (camarillas) Control over “rubber-stamp” Congress Current powers: Initiate legislation and issue decrees with the force of law

Changes in the Executive Branch President Ernesto Zedillo (1994-2000) –relinquished a number of informal powers, including naming the PRI candidate for the 2000 election (1st PRI primary) Harder for president to accomplish political goals without strong party support in the post-PRI Congress Weakened power of the presidency

Bureaucracy Under PRI, corruption and bribes quite common amongst officials in the bureaucracy Major source of employment Parastatal Sector – companies owned or controlled by the state PEMEX (state-owned petroleum company) After 1980’s oil bust, reforms cut the number of parastatals, and many are now privately owned

Legislature Chamber of Deputies (500 members) (Lower House) Bicameral Chamber of Deputies (500 members) (Lower House) 300 deputies from single-member districts (first-past-the-post, plurality elections) 200 deputies chosen by proportional representation (PR) 3 year terms Senate (128 members) (Upper House) 3 senators from each of the 31 states & the federal district (96) Remaining 32 selected by proportional representation 6 year terms All legislators directly elected

Women’s Role in the Legislature 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 (quotas) 113 of 500 deputies in Chamber are female 20 of 128 Senators are also female

Judiciary Mexico does not have a truly independent judiciary Most laws are federal, limiting the authority of state courts Historically has been controlled by the executive branch Judiciary has become more independent in past decade

Supreme Court Officially has judicial review, but it never overrules important government policy or actions Judges appointed for life, but in practice resigned at the beginning of each sexenio

Democratization + Linkage Institutions As democratization began (1990s) and civil society began to develop, structures (parties, interest groups, civil society) were already in place, so activating democracy was easier than it would have been otherwise Democratization much easier in Mexico than in Russia because new institutions had to be created in Russia but simply reformed in Mexico

Political Parties Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) National Action Party (PAN) Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD)

PRI In power from 1929-2000 Centrist, moderate, nonideological (main goal is to win elections) Corporatist structure – govt. allowed certain groups privileged access in exchange for their loyalty (patron-client system) Military, peasant, labor organizations Patron-clientelism – support from poorer, rural areas where patron-client system still in control Patron-client system allowed PRI to remain in control as long as majority of population was rural-based, this began to change in the late 1980s

PAN (Right of Center) Most similar to Republican Party Founded in 1939 PAN support strongest in the north (wealthier) Won several gubernatorial elections in north + mayoral elections in Mexico City prior to 2000 PAN candidate Vicente Fox won 2000 presidential election, Felipe Calderon won 2006 election Platform: Regional autonomy for states Less government intervention in the economy (laissez-faire) Represents business interests Supportive of Catholic Church Most similar to Republican Party

PRD (Left of Center) Promotes social reforms expansion of welfare programs populist policies economic nationalism social justice

Voter Profiles PRI – small town or rural, less educated, older, poorer PAN – from the north, middle-class professional or business, urban, better educated, religious PRD – younger, politically active, from the central states, some education, small town or urban workers

Cleavages Urban vs. Rural North vs. South – Majority of educated citizens and Mexico’s wealth lies in the north Southern Mexico primarily populated by Amerindians, characterized and led by Zapatista Movement in Chiapas

Election of 2000 PAN candidate Vicente Fox won presidency (43% of the vote compared to 36% garnered for PRI candidate Francisco Labastida) 1st election where PRI candidate chosen through primaries rather than by president PAN captured 208 of 500 deputies in the lower house; PRI captured 209 deputy seats 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 encouraged 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