Transcript M MeXICO E - Daniel Aaron Lazar

M MeXICO E
Political Parties
Checks and Balances
Federalism
PolitIcal Parties
• Mexico is a multi-party system.
• There are three dominant parties
which are the PAN, PRD and PRI.
• The rest of the parties form local
coalitions with these three major
parties or just isolate themselves.
Partido Revolucionario
InstitUcional (PRI)
• Formed in the 1929 by Plutarco
Elias Calles.
• Lázaro Cardenas ruled the PRI
during 1934-1940. He
redistributed the land to the
poor, nationalized the oil
companies in 1938, and set a
corporatist system.
• Mexico was a one party rule and
had a strong economic growth
until the later 1970s.
• Political Ideology: Corporatism,
Socialism
• Current leader: Beatriz Paredes
Rangel
BEATRIZ PAREDES RANGEL
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
First woman governor in Mexican history.
From 1974-1977 she was a state deputy
of Tlaxcala.
1978-1980 advisor for the governor of
Tlaxcala.
She was appointed under-secretary for
agrarian reform,.
She has also served
– as Governor of Tlaxcala
– in the Chamber of Deputies
– Senate
– And in 1993 Salinas appointed her as
Ambassador to Cuba.
She ran for Head of Government in the
2006 federal district election
In 2007, she ran again for the party's
presidency and won by a large margin.
PARTIDO ACCIÓN NACIONAL
(PAN)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Mexican Roman Catholics, together with other conservatives (mainly Manuel
Gómez Morín), founded the PAN in 1939.
The PAN has worked long and hard to develop a strong network of grassroots militants.
The party attacked political centralism and advocated expanded states’ rights.
Their main public has been the urban middle class.
Since the 1970s its has been divided into moderate progressive and militant
conservative (neo-PANista) factions.
Compared to the rest of the political parties PAN is the weakest political party.
This political party believes in municipal decentralization and general
democratization.
Over the last decade the PAN has governed most of the largest citites in
Mexico and has governed most of the capital cities of the country.
First registered political party of Mexico
Conservative
Christian Democratic party
One of the main of Mexico
Current leader Manuel Espino Barrientos (2005).
MANUEL ESPINO BARRIENTOS
•He was a mass
media editor and
political
commentator;
•He joined the PAN in 1978
since he occupied various
positions in the party.
•In 2001 he was coordinator
of tours for the Presidency of
the Republic.
•He has been elected twice to
the Congress of Mexico.
PARTIDO DE LA REVOLUCIÓN
DEMOCRÁTICA (PRD)
• Founded in Mexico City
on May 5, 1989 by
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas
Solórzano, Heberto
Castillo, Gilberto Rincón
Gallardo, Porfirio Muñoz
Ledo, other PRI
members and left-wing
politicians.
• Ideology: Centre-left,
Liberalism, Social
democracy
• Current president: Leonel
Cota Montaño
LEONEL COTA
• Leonel Cota began his political
career as a member of the PRI
where he a representative in the
Chamber of Deputies from 19941996 as mayor of La Paz, Baja
California Sure from 1997-1999.
• When he lost his candidature he
resigned and entered the PRD.
• In this political party he won as
governor 1999-2005
• He became president of the PRD
with about 75% of the votes.
OTHER POLITICAL PARTIES
National Parties:
• Partido del Trabajo (Labour Party)
• Green Ecological Party of Mexico
• Convergencia por la Democracia (Convergence)
• ‘Alternativa Socialdemócrata y Campesina’ or
‘Alternativa’ (Social Democratic and Farmer Alternative)
• Nueva Alianza (New Alliance)
• These are the local ones and the ones above are the
national ones along the PRI, PRD and PRN.
CHECKS AND BALANCES
There are two types in
the Mexican
government:
1.Separation of powers
or horizontal
2.Federalism or vertical
SEPARATION OF POWERS
•
•
A system of checks and balances that limits a strong central government.
In a system like this, political competition among actors in the different
branches of government provides incentives for actors to police one
another’s actions.
The Mexican constitution outlines a system of checks and balances and a
separation of powers
–
During one-party rule these formal institutions were meaningless and
power was concentrated in the hand of the president and the executive
branch. The legislative and judicial branches did not serve the purpose
of an effective check. The president had many informal or “extraconstitutional powers” that were derived from his control of the ruling
party. The most important one was nominating the future candidates
for leader of the ruling party. Since the PRI won almost all elections, in
practice the president would appoint all the governors, the legislators,
and his successor.
–
When opposition parties started winning elections they served as a
checking system. The president began to lose many informal powers.
In 1988 the PRI lost its super-majority over the legislation and could no
longer pass constitutional reforms without consulting other parties.
Then in 1997 when the diverse opposition coalition took control
(Vicente Fox), a true system of checks and balances developed.
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
•
There are 2 chambers:
–
Upper house: Senate
• 128 members, each state and federal district have three
senators (two come from the winning party and one from
the runner-up party), and another 32 senators are
distributed through proportional representation (if the party
wins more than 2% of the national vote), in other words.
• No party can win more than 2/3 of the seats in the senate
except under extraordinary circumstances (winning first
place in all the states).
• 6-year terms – no reelections
Lower House: Chamber of Deputies
–
500 seats, 300 are allocated
through single-member
districts, the other 200 through
proportional representation
–
Each party that wins at least
2% of the national vote is
entitled to its proportional share
of the list deputies with a few
restrictions
–
No party can have more than
300 seats – for constitutional
reforms they need a 2/3 vote.
–
No party’s share in the total
number of seats can exceed by
more than 8% its share of the
national vote. To win a majority
in the lower chamber the party
must win more than 42% of the
vote
–
3-year terms – no reelections
• This mixed system provides a good balance between
single-member districts and proportional representation,
allowing for both local representation through districts
and also a fairer distribution of the seats among parties.
• The functions of the legislative branch:
– Enacts nearly all public policy, except for land
reforms, tariffs and quotas in international trade are
for the president.
– All regular legislation must be approved by both
chambers in the same form and then submitted to the
president for publication. The president must publish it
within 10 days or send it back to the chambers.
– President has 2 typed of veto: regular veto (president
rejects bill), correction veto (president requests the
congress to amend the bill if they do amend the bill
then it goes back to the president). Congress can
insist on the original bill with a 2/3 vote. Then the
president must publish the legislation.
JUDICIAL BRANCH
•Supreme Court – 11 members 15year terms (no reelections), nominated
by the president confirmed by the
senate.
•Federal electoral tribunal – 7
members, 4-year terms (no
reelections).
•1994 reforms – Supreme Court has
judicial review. Fox and Zedillo have
strengthened the judiciary.
•Since none of the leaders can be
reelected, the people can’t reward or
punish their leaders for their actions, at
the same time, there isn’t one person
that is dominating a sector of the
government.
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
• The President dominates
the executive branch and
has many informal
powers.
• Ever since the PAN and
the PRD have become
competitors of the PRI the
government has been
divided. Because of this
the Executive branch has
become strong since it
has to arbitrate between
the legislative and judicial
branch.
FEDERALISM AS A check
•
Federalism, in which different levels of
government limit one another. Here the
incentives to police the actions of other
government actors come from the selfinterest of each level of government. The
result is an outcome in which each level
of government essentially balances the
others—without the need for checks and
balances within the central government.
FEDERALISM
Federalism is a system of government in which
power is constitutionally divided and delimited
between a central government and that of
provinces or states. Each level of government
has its own powers and obligations to provide
services and raise revenues. Unlike
Confederations, federal systems give the
central authority some amount of control over
its citizens, thus endowing it with a degree of
sovereignty.
OVERVIEW
• The system of government that was born out of the Mexican
Revolution (1910-1917) compromises 31 states and a Federal
District (Mexico City), divided into more than 2,400 municipios
(municipal governments). Municipios are governed by an
ayuntamiento (council) headed by the presidente municipal (mayor)
– municipal officials are elected for 3-year terms.
• Mexico’s states all have different needs and have different levels of
poverty, therefore, each local government sees to the needs of their
own region. Presidents face the challenge of dividing the power
amongst them in the national government.
• Since the debt crises of the 1980s and 1990s, there have been
important moves toward decentralization – especially in education
and healthcare systems to reduce the financial burden on the
national government – as opposition parties began to win control of
municipios and states.
Decentralization: Towards A
True Federalism?
• President Miguel de la
Madrid (1982-1988) of
the PRI introduced
amendments to Article
115 of the Mexican
Constitution to revive
local governments and
help stimulate social and
economic development.
•
•
President Carlos Salinas (1989-1994) of the PRI
led some important changes, though in many
ways Salinas used decentralization to restore
presidential legitimacy and to increase his own
power.
– The National Solidarity Program /
Solidaridad (PRONASOL) was the most
obvious example of his attempt to enhance his
power. PRONASOL is a highly controversial
social-welfare program that supports
community participation- It served to reinforce
center power – bypassed state and local
governments by extending the federal
government’s connections to the community
level.
– Salinas allowed the recognition of opposition
candidate Ernesto Ruffo’s (PAN) victory in
Baja California – leaders like Ruffo became
advocates of fiscal decentralization.
– Salinas oversaw initiatives to reform electoral
rules to produce transparent and accepted
federal elections.
At the end of the Salinas administration, Mexico
was hit by political chaos that brought armed
rebellion, high-level political assassinations,
corruption, and the worst peso devaluation since
the early 1980s.
NEW FEDERALISM
•
•
•
President Ernesto Zedillo (1994-2000) of the PRI needed to
“open up the horizontal political space between the three
branches as well as decentralize vertically by trusting state
governors, increasing the amount and transparency of
revenue-sharing, and empowering local government” (Victoria
Rodriguez).
Zedillo’s tolerance for increased democratization allowed the
first opposition-dominated Chamber of Deputies in 1997 –
“horizontal” aspect of the New Federalism, since PRI
dominance traditionally made the legislature a rubber stamp for
the executive.
In 1998 and 1999, the opposition-majority legislative coalition
began to work toward expanding municipal autonomy by
approving new reforms to amend Article 115.
– Allowing a 2/3 vote of the city council to make extended
planning commitments.
– Reinforce the functions of municipios.
– Make state revenue sharing more transparent.
– Increase the control of municipios in managing their
budgets.
– Specify municipio responsibilities with regard to areas not
included in the constitution – transportation, ecology…
– Ensure that local governments can collect taxes occupied
by local offices of federal and state agencies, and publicly
owned enterprises.
• Vicente Fox (2000-2006) of
the PAN vowed to increase
power of the states, as several
other presidents have but
failed to do so.
• He wanted to maximize use of
block grants – federal funds
made to a state for the delivery
of a specific group of related
services.
• He didn’t evolve the economic
structure more than any other
former presidents.
CHALLENGES
•
Efforts to decentralize have been high; however, there remain certain
institutional and functional barriers to further democratization and
decentralization – until these are resolved Mexico will lack the benefits made
possible by true federalism.
– Fiscal decentralization – state and local governments require greater
access to the fiscal resources necessary to meet their responsibilities.
This means more equitable revenue sharing between the federal, state,
and municipal governments.
– Re-election – to strengthen subnational governments, the issue of reelections needs to be considered. Because they can’t be re-elected,
federal and state legislators have little accountability to their local
constituencies.
– Judicial Reform and Activism – Mexico’s courts almost never play a
significant role in determining political outcomes due to the dominance of
the executive power, which has given presidents and governors undue
capacity to manipulate this branch.
– Municipal Restructuring – municipal governments are heavily dominated
by their executives because there aren’t separate elections for city
council members. District elections for city council members would
contribute to greater “horizontal” decentralization by creating possibility of
a check on municipal executives, and thus greater local accountability.
CONCLUSION TO FEDERALISM
• Federalism in Mexico is slowly becoming a reality due to
the continued opening of the nation’s political system
and the greater commitment of decision-makers at all
levels to the redistribution of power within the system.
• Federalism promises to enhance Mexico’s democratic
institutions by providing a balance of power – greater
regional and local expression and increased efficiency in
the formation of public policies.
• Federalism has important domestic and international
implications for Mexico with respect to the development
of collaborative initiatives to promote regional planning
and development along the US-Mexican border.
CONCLUSION
• Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6Mxp1AssPo
– What do you think of the video?
– How does it add to your understanding of the
Mexican political system?
– What did you think of the people’s reactions
and comments?
– Did you like the ballot boxes?
THANK YOU
FOR LISTENING