Case Study 7: Mexico

Estados Unidos Mexicanos

The full name of the Mexican state.

Mexican War of Independence (1810-1821)

The Mexican war that severed Spanish control over the country. It was largely led by aristocratic criollos who wanted political and governing autonomy.

Latifundistas

The aristocratic landowners who took over Mexico after the war for independence.

Caciques

Military strongmen who took over Mexico from the latifundistas.

General Antonio López de Santa Anna

The cacique who took power in Mexico after the war for independence and ruled as president for 30 years.

Mexican-American War (1846-1848)

The war between Mexico and the US. Mexico lost a significant amount of territory to the United States.

Porfirio Díaz

The Mexican dictator who ruled from 1876-1910. He led a brutal autocracy also defined by political stability and economic development. He was overthrown in the Mexican Revolution.

The Porfiriato

The period of autocratic rule immediately before the Mexican Revolution. It was named for the ruler.

Mexican Revolution (1910-1917)

The uprising against the oppressive Porfiriato regime. it was simultaneously led by the middle class and by radical socialist reformers who struggled against each other. In the first phase of the war, Francisco Madero led the middle class in taking down Porfirio's government. The second phase challenged the new government and was led by socialist radicals Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa. The war ended with the defeat of the socialist rebel leaders.

Francisco Madero

The leader of the middle class in the Mexican Revolution, who took down the Porfiriato regime.

Emiliano Zapata

The leader of the radical socialist revolutionaries in southern Mexico in the second phase of the Mexican Revolution.

Pancho Villa

The leader of the radical socialist revolutionaries in northern Mexico in the second phase of the Mexican Revolution.

Venustiano Carranza

The final leader of the Mexican Revolution who took over the government and defeated the rebel leaders of the revolution.

Constitution of 1917

The document created after the Mexican Revolution that created a democratic federalist system featuring a weaker church, greater power to native lands and peoples, and public ownership of resources. It also stipulated that presidents may only serve a single term in their lifetime, and cannot be reelected.

Article 59

The constitutional article that states that once a president has been elected, they can never be reelected to that office. It defines the turnover of Mexico's presidential elections.

Subsoil Rights

The constitutional idea that everything under the Mexican soil belongs to the Mexican people, meaning the government, rather than whomever owns the land on the surface.

Partido Nacional Revolucionario

The original name of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional.

Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI)

The political party originally created in 1929 as the "Partido Nacional Revolucionario." It was created as the party of the state and co-opted many national organizations, including the army. It went on to control the country almost completely for more than 80 years.

Soft Authoritarianism

The system of political control used by the PRI where they rarely cracked down and supported civil liberties, yet still maintained political power through co-optation and corruption. They maintained no strong institutional or ideological base for their rule.

Patron-Clientelism

One of the systems through which the PRI consolidated power. It involves granting institutional privileges in exchange for political support.

Corporatism

One of the systems through which the PRI kept power. It involves creating smaller citizen organizations, such as peasant and worker groups, and bringing them into the government in order to consolidate political support and render non governmental organizations obsolete.

Camarillas

Vast networks of political loyalty and cliques. They defined the political structure of the PRI.

Imperial Presidency

The concept of a presidency that functions more like an autocracy, with the president able to make legislation with little checks on power. It was the system that defined the PRI hegemony.

National Congress

The bicameral legislature of the Mexican government. it consists of the Chamber of Deputies (the upper house) and the Senate (the lower house).

Chamber of Deputies

The lower house of legislature in the Mexican National Congress. It has 500 members who pass laws, levy taxes, and verify elections.

Senate

The upper house of legislature in the Mexican National Congress. It has 128 members, 3 per state and 30 national members based on proportional representation. The body confirms presidential appointees to the Supreme Court and approves treaties and federal interventions on local government.

National Supreme Court of Justice

The highest court in Mexico. It is made up of 11 justices who are appointed by the president and approved by the Senate for 15 year terms. The court has the power to determine constitutionality with a request from at least 1/3 of the lower house, and they can strike down law with a supermajority of at least 8 judges in favor.

Federal Judicial Council

An offshoot of the Supreme Court whose job is to oversee the administration of justice. It has 7 members.

Federal Electoral Institute

The organization created by the PRI to oversee elections, which in turn created the Federal Electoral Tribunal.

Federal Electoral Tribunal

The organization within the Federal Electoral Institute that adjudicates all electoral disputes.

Municipios

The county level governments in Mexico. Each of the 32 states are subdivided into these.

Popular Socialist Party

The early leftist party at the beginning of the PRI hegemony.

Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD)

The leftist political party created out of a breakaway faction of the PRI in the 1980s. It performed extremely well in 1988, then struggled with infighting and a lack of popular support. it was later hurt in 2008 by AMLO's refusal to accept the results of the election and later break from the party.

MORENA (National Regeneration Movement)

The leftist political party created by AMLO in 2015 that divided the left but ultimately won the election. It is currently poised to be the most powerful political party in the legislature, but is unstable longterm.

Partido Acción Nacional (PAN)

The conservative political party formed in 1939 by PRI defectors. It mostly defaults to conservative Christian-democratic ideology. it was successful in ending the PRI hegemony but failed to respond aptly to a series of crises including the Zapatista rebellion and governmental corruption. They won the presidency again in 2006 in a highly contested election and have not won since, but are still one of the most powerful parties.

Mexican Green Ecologist Party (PVEM)

The Mexican opportunistic party that is most often allied with the PRI.

National Chamber of Industries and National Chamber of Commerce

The semi-official private sector organizations that encompass Mexican industry and economy.

Business Coordinating Council (CCE)

The PRI offshoot organization that looped Mexican business into the PRI agenda. Business opposition to the PRI social agenda created more popular support for PAN.

Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM)

The PRI formed and supported workers union. It was supported greatly by the PRI but membership was limited and it was very centralized. it was eventually weakened by neoliberal reforms and a lack of government patronage.

National Union of Workers (UNT)

The independent labor union formed in 1997 to compete with the CTM.

National Union of Education Workers (SNTE)

The national union whose control over the industry was broken by educational reforms in 2013. The reforms reduced corruption and power consolidation in the union, but were controversial due to some claiming they were unfair to teachers.

Televisa

Mexico's largest tv company, which was very supportive of the PRI during its hegemony.

#YoSoy132

The Mexican hashtag that criticized pro-PRI media over social media.

Mestizaje

The blending of indigenous and Spanish cultures. It was heavily supported by the PRI, to the detriment of indigenous peoples.

Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN)

The Mayan rebel group that staged an uprising on January 1, 1994. They demanded democracy, an end to harmful neoliberal reforms, and greater indigenous independence.

San Andrés Peace Accords (1996)

The peace agreement meant to deescalate tensions between the Zapatista rebellion and the Mexican government. It promised language and community protections for indigenous peoples. Ultimately, however, it was never implemented by the Mexican government and conflict continues.

Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI)

The system of industrialization pursued by the PRI from 1917 through the 1980s. it involved high tariffs that protected Mexican industry and agriculture, and subsidization for entrepreneurs.

Lázaro Cárdenas (1934-1940)

The most important PRI president for socialist economic reform. He instituted land reform and economic nationalism. He granted ejidos, or land grants, to landless Mexicans, created state controlled unions, and nationalized oil with PEMEX, winning loyalty from the poor and lower classes with his socialist policy.

PEMEX

The largest company in Mexico, which is a huge source of Mexican governmental revenue. Due to dropping oil prices it is steadily losing money, leading the Mexican government to partially privatize it and change policies around its spending.

National Union of Mexican Oil Workers

The workers union that has lost power as a result of PEMEX losing power and influence.

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (1994)

The agreement that established a free trade zone between Mexico, Canada, and the United States. It was part of a shift in Mexican political economy to neoliberal policies.

Mexican Miracle

The period from the 1940s to the 1980s in Mexico marked by increased industrialization, increased urbanization, a rise in the educated population, and increased dependence on the US.

Maquiladores

Foreign (mostly US) owned factories in Mexico that assemble foreign parts into products that are sold externally. They have added jobs to northern Mexico but added little to the economy through products and have exacerbated the imbalance of work and money in the north and south of Mexico.

United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) (2018)

The new trade agreement between Mexico, Canada, and the US, that replaced NAFTA. It reduces some tariffs, requires a higher percentage of North American made goods in circulation, and requires increased wages. It was heavily backed by Trump as an alternative to NAFTA.

Informal Sector

A significant portion of the Mexican economy that is made up of informal and underground businesses such as ambulantes, or street vendors.

Oportunidades

The social spending system that gives families a sum of money in exchange for the assurance that their children remain in school and receive preventative medical care.

National Guard

AMLO's reaction and solution to the huge problem of cartel violence. It has been met with significant skepticism as its forces are made up of notoriously corrupt military and federal police officials.

Bracero Program

The US program from the 1960s-1980s that took advantage of cheap, undocumented Mexican labor and encouraged illegal immigration from Mexico.

Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) (1986)

The act signed that tightened border control but also legalized many of the Mexican immigrants already in US borders.

Federales

The Federal Police, who are more trusted than local police forces to actually fight against violence. They were formed in 2009.