Mexico: Political and Economic Change AP Comparative Government

History Throughout Mexican history, Mexico has encountered authoritarian governments, military dictatorships and democratic movements Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, after having been ruled since 1519 The historical influence on Mexico can be broken into three parts: Colonialism Independence until the Revolution of 1910 The 20th century after the revolution

Colonialism From 1519-1821, Spain controlled Mexico The Spanish instituted an elaborate social hierarchy throughout the nation Native Spaniards were at the top of that hierarchy Spaniards born in Mexico were right below native Spaniards In the middle of the hierarchy were mestizos. Mestizos were mixed race individuals who had both native and Spanish ancestry Amerindians, or native individuals, were at the bottom of the social structure Cultural Heterogeneity: While 60% of the Mexican population is now of mestizo descent, there are still conflicts between mestizo and Amerindian populations Those of Amerindian descent are primarily from areas south of Mexico City

Colonialism Catholicism: Economic dependency: Most Spaniards live in or near Mexico City, but Spanish priests moved throughout Mexico converting people to Christianity Economic dependency: Spain controlled Mexico’s economic fortunes with strict central control While Spain was able to reap great benefits from Mexico, they never fully realized the wealth of resources that existed

Independence/New Country (1810-1911) Miguel Hidalgo, a Mexican Parish priest, led a popular rebellion against Spanish Rule in 1810 After 11 years of conflict, Mexico was finally recognized as independent in 1821 by the Spanish Government This new found independence was not stable though, as 36 presidents served between 1833 and 1855 Instability and legitimacy issues: When the Spanish left Mexico, they took away the support of their government Since Mexico had a history of being dominated by a foreign power, forming a government was very difficult Rise of the military: Due to government instability, military control was exercised throughout Mexico Santa Anna was one of the most famous military leaders of Mexico

Independence/New Country (1810-1911) Domination by the United States: The U.S. was able to capitalize on Mexico's weakness and claimed over half of Mexico’s territory in the Spanish American war. Mexico lost Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Utah, and part of Colorado. Liberal v Conservative Struggles: In 1857, Mexico established a constitution based upon democratic principles The building of a liberal democracy was pushed by Benito Juarez, an individual still celebrated as a Mexican hero. The Mexican experiment with democracy was ended when a joint French, Spanish, and English takeover of Mexico took place The leader of this joint takeover was assassinated in 1867 and Juarez was brought back into power Unfortunately this brought no peace to Mexican politics

The “Porfiriato” (1876-1911) Parfirio Diaz Diaz was a general under Benito Juarez Diaz staged a coup with the promise that he would serve only one term in office Diaz ignored that pledge and ruled with absolute power for 34 years Diaz used cientificos, or a group of young advisors, who believed in scientific and economic progress in Mexico

The “Porfiriato” (1876-1911) The influences of the Porfiriato are: Stability: With Diaz in power, the years of chaos came to an end. His dictatorship brought about a stable government in Mexico Authoritarianism: This dictatorship forbade the sharing of political power with those beyond the small group of elites within the government Foreign investment and economic growth: The cientificos encouraged entrepreneurship and foreign investment This led to great economic growth and many partnerships with the United States Growing gap between rich and poor: The quick economic development in Mexico led to a very wealthy elite and a wide base of poor citizens

Early 20th Century Diaz was forced to abdicate his rule in 1911, after General Francisco Madero pushed for his removal For the next 24 years warlords battled for control over Mexico The Influences of this era include: Patron-client system: In an attempt to seize power in Mexico, Caudillos (political/military strongmen) rose to challenge one another for power Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa led peasant armies to try and establish their own power Each leader used the patron-client system to motivate support for the movements The majority of the Caudillos and their supporters were violently killed in competition for power

Early 20th Century Constitution of 1917: The constitution ended the revolution but not the violence The constitution set the framework for a democratic government with three branches and competitive elections Political assassinations were common throughout the 1920’s Conflict with the Catholic Church The Cristero Rebellion broke out in the 1920’s in an attempt to retain the voting rights of priest and to reinstate church-affiliated schools and allow for church services The rebellion was not successful and some relics of the anti-Catholic movement still remain Very few of the laws are actually enforced today

Early 20th Century The Establishment of the PRI In 1929 the caudillos were brought together to make an agreement The agreement was to give each president one six-year term and then let another leader have his term (sexenio) Other caudillos would then be given major positions in the government to establish their influence The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) was to stabilized and minimize conflict between the leaders Other parties were allowed to run candidates for office, but the umbrella agreement precluded them from winning

The Cardenas Upheaval 1934-1940 From 1934-1940 Lazaro Cardenas rose to the Mexican presidency and brought changes that included: Redistribution of Land: Land was taken away from big landlords and redistributed as ejidos, or collective land grants Nationalization of industry: Foreign business owners were kicked out of Mexico and industry was seized by the state PEMEX, a government controlled oil company was created

The Cardenas Upheaval 1934-1940 Investments in public works: The government built roads, provided electricity, and created public services Encouragement of peasant and union organizations: The peasants and unions had the ear of Cardenas and many formed their own camarillas with leaders who represented their respected groups Concentration of power in the presidency Cardenas stabilized the presidency, and he peacefully let go of his power at the end of his sexenio (six year term)

State-led development The industrial development plan that Cardenas used was called import substitution industrialization This plan employs high tariffs to protect locally produced goods from foreign competition, government ownership of key industries and government subsidies to domestic industries Mexico is still an example of state corporatism The president determines who represents different groups to the government

Tecnicos and the Pendulum Theory Miguel Aleman, a former Mexican president, set forth the Pendulum Theory Aleman pushed back against Cardenas’ socialist policies and pushed for more economic liberalization Aleman was followed by a more socialist president who pushed the pendulum in the opposite direction It was in the 1970’s when the pendulum stopped and the tecnicos took control of the government The tecnicos are educated, business-oriented leaders The tecnicos subscribed to free-market approaches to the economy In the 1980’s Mexico practiced neoliberalism Neoliberalism is a strategy that calls for free markets, balanced budgets, privatization, free trade, and limited government intervention in the economy