Test Study Guide AP Comparative Politics Mr. Baysdell

1. The reference to the “Mexican miracle” is evidence for Mexico’s status as a newly-industrializing democracy. Make sure you understand exactly what this term entails. 2. All Presidents of Mexico were military generals until the mid-20th Century 3. Know why Cardenas was significant as a President 4. The PRI succeeded in monopolizing power in Mexico after it was founded in 1929 mainly because Mexican elites were willing to join together to stop the pervasive violence of the early 20th Century. 5. The Mexican political system that existed for most of the 20th Century was a patron-client system. Mexico was not a direct democracy or even a limited democracy. 6. The Zapatista movement of the late 20th and early 21st Century is based on the belief that the rights of Amerindian people have been abused consistently by the Mexican government. 7. The (1876-1911) was an authoritarian dictatorship that promoted foreign trade and increased the gap between rich and poor (Porfirio Diaz). 8. The 1917 Constitution set up a structure for the Mexican government that was a democracy with three branches. 9. During the 1934-1940 Cardenas Upheaval, land was redistributed, industry was nationalized, public works received investment, and peasant and union organizations were encouraged. 10. The main reason the was limited to 1 6-year term was to stop other elites from killing the President! 11. The Pendulum theory underscores the tendency of Mexican politics to go back and forth between socialist reform and capitalistic investments. 12. Southerners in Mexico are more likely to be Amerindian and darker than their northern counterparts. Southerners also farm much more, and are less prosperous. 13. The best example of the use of cooptation by the Mexican government was the presidential recruitment of student protestors to serve in his administration in 1968. 14. The PRI is favored by farmers, particularly southern farmers. PAN is popular among businesstypes, churchgoing , college educated types, and urban factory workers. PAN opposes more government intervention in the economy, and favors regional autonomy, a good relationship with the Catholic Church, and support for private education. The PAN party is more like the Republican Party in the USA, and PRI like the Democrats. The PRD is even further left than PRI. 15. Mexico’s democracy has become more substantive than Russia’s since 2000. 16. Mexican elections are most competitive in urban areas. 17. The recent move to make Mexican elections for the national legislature involve more proportional representation has allowed smaller parties to become more represented. 18. The Mexican political system has long been described as corporatist because the government has had a longtime tendency to network with business and other interest group leaders. 19. The US Constitution resembles the Mexican document, but the two function in different ways. 20. Until 2000, the President was virtually a dictator for a six year term. 21. The most important factor for the decline of the para-statal sector in recent years has been the emphasis on privatization of industry (Cardenas is rolling over in his grave!) 22. Mexican law requires parties to sponsor women candidates. 23. Most judges resign their posts at the beginning of each President’s term, thus proving that the judiciary is not fully independent yet. 24. The Mexican military now plays a much smaller role in politics than it once did. 25. Threats to the Mexican economy: • oil may dry up soon • Dependence on economic health of U.S. • Growing gap between rich and poor • Large international debt 26. The most important goal of NAFTA is to encourage business expansion across borders of North American countries. 27. Mexican elections of 1994, 2000, and 2006 were probably the fairest in Mexican history. 28. Both Mexico and Russia have proportional representation in the lower house of the legislature. 29. Mexico and China in the latter half of the 20th Century: Both suppressed student protests Both were oil producers Both had weak legislatures Both had a President 30. Before the Mexican election of 2000, the PRI candidate had always been chosen by the sitting President. The 2000 election is considered a turning point because a non-PRI candidate won (Vicente Fox, PAN) 31. The PAN party, prior to 2000 had won only gubernatorial elections in the northern part of the country, which is its stronghold. 32. Urban workers support the PRD. 33. Comparison of Transitioning to democracy: Mexico reformed old institutions, Russia created new ones 34. The current Mexican Constitution declares that subsoil rights are property of the nation and limits foreigners from exploiting those resources. 35. Since the PRI no longer dominates, governors have become more willing to exercise their formal powers, increasing federalism. 36. Immigration has been the most contentious problem between Mexico and the US in recent years. 37. Mexico’s weak judicial system still lacks independence, like Russia’s. 38. Socialists tend to favor the nationalization of large industrial enterprises. 39. PPP is a better gauge than GNP because PPP takes into account the cost of living. 40. Since nearly all Mexicans are Roman Catholic, outsiders are often surprised that the role of the church is a political issue in Mexico. 41. Know post-modernist values. 42. Most nations with high PPP and large service sectors in their economy are post-industrialist/industrialized democracies. 43. The most significant division among the Mexican is politico vs. tecnico. 44. The principle of non-reelection in Mexico makes legislators dependent upon civil servants for information. 45. Patron-clientelism is still characteristic of policy-making in Mexico today but its influence in recent years. 46. Under Cardenas (1934-40), Mexico began import substitution. 47. Corporatism has the problem of often limiting representative processes. 48. China, Russia, and Mexico all have code-law legal systems. 49. Dependency theory suggests that colonialism hampered the long-term development of developing countries. 50. Liberal democracies enjoy: protected civil rights/liberties, rule of law, and independent judiciary, a large civil society, and civilian control of the military. 51. Some members of the Mexican Chamber of Deputies are chosen to represent single-member districts, and some are chosen by proportional representation. 52. Compared to parties in a Pr system, parties in a single member district system are less ideological and less class-based. 53. The international movement towards market economies supports the developmental pattern of globalization. 54. The “Asian Tigers” strengthened their economies by -oriented industrialization; Mexico never did much of this. 55. Mexico’s PRI is/was “corporatist.” 56. The first recent market-oriented reform President of Mexico was Salinas (1988-1994) 57. Mexican independence was achieved under the leadership of colonial landowning and clerical elites seeking to preserve their positions of power and wealth. 58. Mexican Revolutions occurred in 1810, 1910, 1911, 1917, and during the 1930s 59. Diaz used violent methods to stay in power. 60. For more than a century, one of the key principles in Mexican politics has been non-reelection. This concentrated power in the presidency. 61. Spanish colonialism and the Mexican political party system reinforced pre-Columbian sentiments favoring democracy. 62. The Mexican President has a six year term. 63. The U.S. and Mexico both have separation of powers, bicameral legislatures, state representation in the upper legislative house, and federalism as core pillars. 64. The Mexican legislature was subservient until the 2000 election of Vicente Fox. 65. The most important Mexican reformer President was Lazaro Cardenas (1934-40): He nationalized the oil industry, instituted land reform, created an official trade union, and voluntarily retired in 1940, despite the thought by many that he was trying to be president for life. Relations with the US during this period were not good. 66. Mexico was not considered a viable democracy before the 1990s because election results were falsified so the PRI always won. The PRI, however, put on a good show, and its candidates actively campaigned for votes. “electoral alchemy” was the term used for the illegal counting of ballots that always led to a PRI victory. The Federal Election institute (1997) put a end to some of this malarkey. 67. Politicians trained as economists or in related fields are known as tecnicos. 68. The leading right wing party in Mexico is the PAN (National Action Party). The biggest splits between PRI and PAN are on economics and religion. 69. The PRD left the PRI because they felt that the party’s original revolutionary values had been betrayed. 70. Mexican political culture is marked by patron-client relations. 71. Mexican nationalism is expressed in terms of fearing USA power. 72. American fear Mexican immigration and wish there was a wall between the two countries. 73. The Mexican President is so powerful because he appoints almost all officials and uses the bureaucracy as a tool of patronage. 74. Presidents de la Madrid and Salinas tried to reduce corruption, shift towards a free market, open up free trade with the US, and liberalize economically. 75. Mexico’s economy is a political issue because of the massive debt owed to foreign and international lenders. 76. Most Mexicans move to the U.S. to find a better job and standard of living. Some of them send money back to Mexico, which actually helps the Mexican economy. 77. The free and independent press of Mexico regularly ignores scandals, prints government proclamations as news stories, must buy all newsprint from the government and mostly covers the public actions of government leaders. 78. 66% of all Mexican trade is with the U.S., but only 5% of all U.S. imports come from Mexico. 79. The 1980s crisis was ended by higher taxes, debt reductions, reductions in government spending, and opening the economy to foreign trade. 80. Mexico was similar to the post-Stalin Soviet Union because it had stability, gradual abandonment of revolutionary goals, elitism of the ruling party, and rampant corruption. Only Russia, however, domestically exiled political critics. 81. In the Mexican civil service, whole staffs move from one agency to another when a political appointee is reassigned. 82. Mexican political culture is marked by religious homogeneity and a strong sense of nationalism. 83. Government corporatism welcomes corruption by the way it directs public money to NGOs. 84. Corporatist organizations like trade unions and peasant associations helped the PRI maintain power by providing tangible benefits to members, providing a recruiting ground for leaders, channeling political activity, and limiting access to positions of authority. 85. Felipe Calderon has had to deal with the problem of declining Mexican oil production.

ESSAY: Compare the Mexican President and legislature with the British Prime Minister and Parliament.