A P Comparative Gov't and Politics Mexico's Political Systems, Regimes, and Government

[amenatajammul]

SCRIPT/TEXT/WHAT I SAID:


Mexico was colonized by Spain in the early 1500s to the early 1800s. It gained its independence from Spanish control in 1821. ​Post independence mexico was unstable and conflict arose between the liberals and conservatives. The liberals wanted to restrain the Catholic Church, while the conservatives favored European rule and wanted the church to keep its power.​ Between 1846-1848, Mexico and America fought a war, the Mexican-American War. Mexico lost and was forced to sell half of its land to America for a very low price. General Antonio López de Santa Anna, the ruler of Mexico at the time, lost his power and position after the war during his visit to the U.S. to meet with U.S. President Andrew Jackson. ​José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori became the Mexican dictator in 1870 and brought a lot of peace and economic growth, but inequality increased. His harsh regime, called the Porfiriato, was authoritarian, but it brought stability to the country for the first time since its independence. He stayed in power until 1910. In 1910, Francisco Madero called for a revolution against Diaz, and in 1911, Diaz resigned and Madero was elected president. Madero attempted to form a democracy with little change to the economy. This was the first phase of the Mexican Revolution; The second part was a struggle between those who supported Madero’s ideas and advocates of radical socioeconomic change. Mexico fell into political chaos because different social forces wanted to accomplish different things. The Mexican Revolution was a struggle between middle-class Mexicans who wanted a more democratic political system with a capitalistic economy and radical social reformers who wanted agrarian reforms. Armed bands led by regional political bosses fought each other for about 10 years. The Mexican Revolution was bloody and lead to one party authoritarianism. The Constitution of 1917 dealt with some of the contradictions of the revolution and was written by the middle-class mestizo professionals who suffered under the Diaz dictatorship, NOT by peasants and workers. The Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, was formed in 1929 and was the most powerful institution in Mexican politics. One important former PRI president of Mexico was Lazaro Cardenas. During his rule between 1934-1940, Cardenas promoted land reform, nationalized the oil industry, and gave the state a larger role in the economy. He made Mexico a corporatist state, but it was changed to capitalistic in the 1980s by PRI. The National Action Party, or PAN, was created in 1939 as a conservative opposition to the revolution. Mexican politics were dominated for over 70 years by PRI until 2000, when the presidential candidate for PAN, Vicente Fox, won the election. In the next election, PAN was again successful, and their candidate, Felipe Calderon, became the Mexican president in 2006. He escalated the war against drugs. ​PRI made a comeback in the 2012 election with their candidate Pena Nieto, but in the next election, a new party, the Morenas party, aka the National Regeneration Movement, won the majority of seats everywhere except for in one province, winning what is also known as a super majority. They also won the presidential seat and the new president was Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a charismatic populist. The Mexican transition to democracy was slow, but led to a strong and consolidated democracy with little chance of changing back. ​The Roman Catholic Church plays a major role in legitimacy and civil society. The Mexican Constitution was established in 1917, and one major effect was the abolishment of the vice president’s office in Mexican government. ​Interest groups, such as those in the labor, peasant, and popular sectors, are important, but were once controlled by PRI during its one-party rule. ​The media is free compared to countries like China, but not comparatively to the United Kingdom. Former President Nieto had reduced the PRI influence over Mexican media. It plays a role in political socialization. ​Mexico is a federal system and so has state governments with their own elections. It is also a democracy with presidential elections and is a multi party system. The economy is a free market economy, but it has had difficulties since market based reforms after the economic crises in the 1970s and in the 1980s. ​Mexico is a major oil producer and exporter, but does not rely solely on the revenue it gains from that. PEMEX is a government controlled oil company that produces a lot of the country’s income. There is a lot of economic inequality between the North and the South, as more money is in the North due to maquiladoras along the U.S. border and less in the South due to increased drug trafficking and rushes of immigrants from countries like Guatemala. ​The Mexican economy relies heavily on foreign aid from countries like America, and though it has tried to become more independent, it still relies on America and its investments. Mexico remains heavily in debt and has a very high poverty rate. There was an economic collapse in 1981-1982 due to a sudden drop in oil prices and Mexico’s inability to pay back its foreign debt. ​Those in poverty sometimes begin to depend on drug cartels to supply food and money for their family. The drugs are either made in Mexico, or brought in from other Central American countries. There is currently some tension between Mexico and the United States due to illegal immigrants coming into the United States, some bringing in drugs. ​It is currently a democratic federal republic with a multi party system. The head of state and head of government is the president ​Andrés Manuel López
Obrador​. Currently, government power is in the Morenas party and their leader, Obrador. This party won the super majority in the 2018 election. Mexico has been riddled with corruption in the police force, the government, and the bureaucracy. Most people are unable to rely on their own police to help them because they have been bribed or such by drug cartels and leaders. This causes low political efficacy and a lot of violence.

[aymanfatani]

Boo 😒 you didn’t meet the requirement for 9 mins