This is the vital assignment for IPE239 Comparative Political Systems, IPED Prpgram, Rangsit University. The course part aims at providing an introduction to the field of comparative politics. Various theoretical perspectives and basic concepts within the field are taken up. The political systems of a number of countries - in relation to formal political institutions and informal aspects of the political order - are presented, discussed and compared. Issues of identity as well as the position of nation states in a global context are also dealt with. The course part includes an introduction to comparative method and sources of knowledge about political systems.

1. POLITICS IN MEXICO

3. CONTENT
❖ Background
❖ Political Culture
❖ Political System
❖ The Last 9 Presidents
❖ Political Recruitment
❖ The Role of Interest Groups
❖ Political Parties
❖ Government Performance
❖ Political Stability
❖ Political Current Issue
❖ Conclusion

4. POLITICAL HISTORY BACKGROUND IN
MEXICO❖ Mexico was one of Spain's richest colonies thanks to its silver mines.
❖ Growth began under the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz (1876–1910) but fell during the chaotic
years of the Mexican Revolution (1910–1917).
❖ The country first became independent in 1821
❖ Mexico is a federal republic, governed according to the Constitution promulgated at the end of
the revolution in 1917.
❖ The presidency is very powerful. The president is elected for a six-year term and cannot be
reelected.
❖ Miguel Alemán becomes the first civilian president of Mexico since Francisco Madero in 1911.
❖ The ruling government party, founded in 1929, is renamed the Partido Revolucionario
Institucional (PRI), and will continue its dominance for the next 50 years.

5. POLITICAL CULTURE IN MEXICO
❖ Mexican citizens are very supportive of political institution that value their heritage and culture.
❖ 16% of mexico's congress is female and women's movement is difficult to organize due to class
divisions
❖ PRI: Largest political party in Mexico, dominated the country's political institution from its
founding in 1929 until the end of the 20th century.
❖ Liberalization: In the economic aspect and the impact: The government privatization of banks,
cut farm subsidies, joined WTO and reduced power to oil union.

6. POLITICAL SYSTEM IN MEXICO
❖ EXECUTIVES: The president
❖ LEGISLATIVES: The Mexican legislature is the bicameral Congress of the Union, composed of
a lower house called the Chamber of Deputies and an upper house called the Senate of the
Republic.
❖ JUDICIAL: The federal and state systems; Mexico's highest court is the Supreme Court of
Justice
❖ STATE GOVERNMENT: Mexico is divided into thirty-one states and a Federal District that
encompasses Mexico City and its immediate environs. Each state has its own constitution,
modeled on the national charter, with the right to legislate and levy taxes other than interstate
customs duties.
❖ LOCAL GOVERNMENT:

7. THE LAST 9 PRESIDENTS ARE AS
FOLLOWS:❖ 1964-1970 Gustavo Díaz Ordaz (PRI)
❖ 1970-1976 Luis Escheverría (PRI)
❖ 1976-1982 José López Portillo (PRI)
❖ 1982-1988 Miguel de la Madrid (PRI)
❖ 1988-1994 Carlos Salinas de Gortari (PRI)
❖ 1994-2000 Ernesto Zedillo (PRI)
❖ 2000-2006 Vicente Fox (PAN)
❖ 2006-2012 Felippe Calderón (PAN)
❖ 2012-2018 Enrique Peña Nieto (PRI)
❖ The next presidential election is due in 2018.

8. THE LAST 9 PRESIDENTS

9. POLITICAL RECRUITMENT
❖ Recruited predominantly from the middle class
❖ 1982-2000, mostly people raised in mexico city
➢ Postgraduate education, especially at elite foreign universities and in discipline such economic and public
administration
■ Vincente Fox (2000-2006) favored persons with non-governmental experience and had no political
party affiliation
■ Calderon (2006-2012) had an MA in economics and public administration & had extensive party
experience
➢ Kinship ties
■ More important since 1970s
■ Since 2000, ⅓ of politician have been connected with political families

10. THE ROLE OF INTEREST GROUPS
❖ Took place within the upper levels of the federal bureaucracy
❖ Corporatist System ( 1930s until PRI’s defeat in 2000)
❖ The official party itself was divided into three sectors
➢ Labor Sector
➢ Peasant Sector
➢ Popular Sector
❖ Some groups did not need representation through the major party (PRI), but deal with government
directly
➢ Entrepreneurs, Military, and Catholic Church
❖ Patron- Client Relationships
➢ Is an political system which goods and services are exchanged for political support
➢ This helped strengthen PRI hold on power

11. POLITICAL PARTIES IN MEXICO
❖ Nationally, there are three large political parties that dominate: the PRI, the PRD, and the PAN.
Other smaller political parties survive in isolation or by forming local coalitions with any of the
big three.
❖ PRI: Institutional Revolutionary Party
❖ PRD: Party of the Democratic Revolution
❖ PAN: National Action Party.
❖ The Politics of Mexico take place in a framework of a federal presidential representative
democratic republic whose government is based on a congressional system, whereby the
President of Mexico is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system.

12. GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE:
Promoting Economic Growth & Reducing Poverty
❖ Impressive economic gains, some credit should be given to government policies
❖ Foreign investment & the privatization of national industry led to massive public investment in
infrastructure
❖ Led to an stimulation of the economy, economic growth, and low inflation
➢ Neoliberal Economic Development
➢ Allowing free markets and foreign investment
■ Considerable spending on welfare at the the same time ( oportunidades Program)
■ Safety net for short term ‘ losers’ from neoliberal economic policies
■ Standard of living of middle class mexican has improved
➢ Segura Popular ( Popular Health Insurance)

13. GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE:
Establishing the Rule of Law
❖ Greatest failure of all since the mid-1990s
❖ Cannot deal with street crime
❖ ¾’s of crimes go unreported, citizen’s low expectations that the criminals will be caught and punished
❖ Remedies
➢ Real progress only by addressing root causes such joblessness and extreme income inequality

14. POLITICAL
STABILITY❖ Late 1980s, three party system that emerge has been largely consolidated
❖ Elections are as democratic and transparent as nearly any other country in America
❖ Classified as an democracy
➢ One of the best functioning in Latin America
➢ ‘Freedom of Information’system
➢ Government secrecy has been greatly reduced
➢ Citizen power

15. POLITICAL CURRENT ISSUE IN
MEXICO❖ Corruption
❖ Wealth distribution
❖ Vote market
❖ Division

16. SUMMARY
❖ Background- being under the dictatorship ruled for many years, an federal republic known at the end of
revolution 1917, six years term and can’t be reelected
❖ Political culture- only 16% in congress is female’s movement due to class division
❖ Political system- Legislative, Executive, and Judicial
❖ Political recruitment- recruited mostly in middle class
❖ Interest groups- Corporatist system, and Client Relationship
❖ Political parties- three large parties ( PRI, PRD, and PAN)
❖ Government performance- Promoting economic growth and reducing poverty, and establishing the rule
of law
❖ Political stability- classified as an democracy
❖ Political current issue- corruption, wealth distribution, vote market, and division

17. THE END
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