Mexico Linkage Institutions

By: Sheel Bhalani

Thomas Darden

Robby Pyles

Comparative Party Systems

Type of system: Multi-Party System

Relationship to Legislature: 3 parties well represented in the Legislature

Relationship to the Executive: Unclear, but most likely competitive relationship with Executive

Types of Parties: Parties on left and right

PRI Officially: “Partido Revolucionario institucional”

1920-2000: Ruled Continuously, so it has dominated for much of the last century

Party Platform:

Anti-Clericism (Keeping the church out of politics)

Centralization: Consolidating power to a central government body

Representing peasant and labor organizations

Characterized by:

Corporatist Structure (which brought competing elites into the cabinet)

Patron Client System

Appeal to rural people, residents of southern Mexico

Ejected Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, son of Mexico’s famous and revered president, Lazaro

Cardenas, for demanding reform that emphasized social justice and populism, causing

him to switch parties to PRD

PAN Officially: “National Action Party”

Founded in 1939

Platform:

Regional Autonomy

Less government intervention in the economy

clean and fair elections

Good rapport with the catholic church

support for private and religious education

Goal is to represent business interests, support regional autonomy

Voters are mainly northerners, middle class or professional, who are better educated

Misc.: Considered right-sided, opposes PRI, and President Filipe Calderon was a party

member

PRD Officially: Democratic Revolutionary Party

Party Platform: Social Welfare

Greater state control of economy

Renegotiation of parts of NAFTA with the US and Canada

Considered to the left of the PRI

First was supported in the 1980s

They have had trouble defining their left of center alternative to the PRI’s market-oriented policies

Reforms emphasize social justice and populism

Leaders have been divided on issues and publically quarrel

Election Overview/Electoral

System Citizens of Mexico directly elect:

The President (through first past the post) State and Local officials Chamber of Deputy Representatives (Lower House): 300 seats

determined by plurality within single-member districts, and 200 seats chosen by proportional representation.

Senators (Upper House): Each of Mexico’s 31 states elects three senators (two decided by majority vote, one by whichever party receives the second highest vote). Also, 32 senate seats are determined nationally through a system of proportional representation

Both the Chamber and Senators are elected through a dual system of

“first past the post” and proportional representation, and

proportional representation came from a major reform law in 1986.

Voter AppealPRI: Small town or rural, less educated, older,

poorer

PAN: From the north, middle-class professional or business, urban, better educated (at least high school, some college), religious (or those less strict about separation of church and state)

PRD: Younger, politically active, from the central states, some education, small town or urban; drew some middle-class and older voters in 2006

Elections of 2000

• PAN Candidate, Vicente Fox, brought into presidency

• PAN captured 208 of 500 deputies in the lower house (Chamber of Deputies)

• PRI edged them out with 209 members

• 46 of 128 senators elected were from PAN, as opposed to 60 for PRI

• Gridlock may be currently occurring because coalitions are forming on the left and right of the PRI

PAN’s Vicente Fox

Elections of 2006

• PAN candidate Felipe Calderón (the victor) and PRD candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador were virtually tied for the lead, with PRI’s Roberto Madrazo trailing.

• The official vote count put Claderón ahead by about 230,000 votes, out of 41.5 million votes (about ½ a % point)

• Obrador challenged and demanded a national recount, but the election tribunal only did a recount for 9% of the precincts, and said that the result was still the same.

• Throughout the recount disputes, Obrador encouraged his supporters to protest, and claimed to be the legitimate president

• After the recount results, Obrador claimed the election was “stolen” by a broad conspiracy between business leaders and the government (something which seems possible due to Mexico’s election corruption history)

• In Legislative Branch, PRI’s power weakened in both houses, as PAN received modest gains in the Chamber of Deputies, and PRD gained many seats in both houses.

PAN’s Felipe Calderoñ

PRD’s Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador

Mid-Term (Legislative) Election of 2009

Both PAN and PRD lost a significant number of seats; PRI almost

doubled the number of seats it held in the Chamber of Deputies.

PRI won five of the six state governorships in play and many

important mayoralties

PRI’s rise could be attributed to a slogan “proven experience,

new attitude,” and by factional splits in PRD that made Obrador’s

(PRD’s leader at the time) leadership of that party controversial.

PRI’s rise indicated that Calderón (president at that time, and a

PAN member) would govern for the last three years of his

presidency in possible gridlock with a PRI-dominated legislature

Election of 2012PRI: Enrique Peña Nieta

PRD: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (or AMLO)

PAN: Josefina Vazquez Mota

The PRI has capitalized on a growing sense among voters that neither Pan nor PRD is any less corrupt than PRI, and many think the PRI is more able to deliver on political promises.

Results: Nieta (PRI) wins 39%

Obrador (PRD) wins 25%

Vazquez Mota (PAN) wins 20%

PRI’s Nieta experiences victory

Pre-Election Commentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VXtZ5xBmbc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEdfjVZdcxU.

Riots Begin as Nieto Takes Office

Results of 2012 Election

Interest GroupsThe government responds to the demands of

interest groups through co-optation and accommodation.

When there’s an open conflict, it is usually met with efforts to find a solution.

In the past 30 years, business interests networked with political leaders to protect the growth of economy (State Corporatism).

Interest Groups cont.Under State Corporatism, business elites have

become wealthy, but not incorporated into the PRI.

Power of union bosses is declining.

Today, under PAN (when Calderon was president), there is a possibility for neo-corporatism. PAN controls the presidency, but does not control the legislature, and there is no clear evidence that businesses are controlling the government

Interest Groups Cont.The most powerful interest group is Educational

Workers’ Union.

Peasant organizations have been encouraged through the edijo system (which grants land from the Mexican government to the organizations themselves) by the PRI.

Since the 1980s, peasant groups have demanded independence from the government.

Popular MovementsOrganizations are concerned with

Social welfare spendingCity servicesNeighborhood improvementsEconomic developmentFeminismProfessional identity

Media Under PRI (1929 to late 1990s)

Media could not criticize the government or influence public opinion.

The government rewarded media outlets that supported them with special favors, such as access to airwaves.

The government subsidized salaries of those who supported PRI initiatives.

Media TodayIn the 1980s, the media began to become more

independent as PRI lost its hold.

Mexican citizens now have more access to more outlets of media.

Today, several magazines and newspapers criticize government initiatives.

Mexican citizens have a broader range of political opinions than ever before.

Current Event: “Mexico Bar Shootings Leave

Nine Dead in Caohuila State

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-20929205.

• 1/6/2013

• Heavily armed gunmen in northern Mexico have stormed two bars, killing at least nine people.

• “Police believe they were carried out by gangs fighting for control of drug trafficking in the Coahuila state.”

• “Also, others bars were targeted in similar attacks in Torreon in the past few days.”

“The Mexican army has been at the forefront of the fight with drug cartels.”

Thank you