Mexico

Cacique

local party boss

Caudillos

the leader of patron-client (camarillas) groups.

Camarillas

patron-client networks of cliques based on personal connections and charismatic leadership leading to corruption

Chamber of Deputies

500 member legislative body that are directly elected for 3-year terms using SMD and PR

Co-optation

the means a regime uses to get support from citizens taking into account their demands

Ejidos

collective land grants worked on by the peasants

Federal Electoral Institute (IFE)

Established to count votes and monitor elections; independent organization

Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)

Dominated Mexican politics throughout much of the 20th century; centrist party.

National Action Party (PAN)

Run by Catholics and northern businesspeople, advocates free trade policies, lower taxes, and privatization; right wing.

Neocorporatism

when business wield a lot of control over the government

Neoliberalism

strategy that calls for free markets, balanced budgets, privatization, free trade, and limited government intervention in the economy

One party-dominant system

a system in which many parties are allowed to exist however only one party generally wins any power

Party of the democratic Revolution (PRD)

supports state control over industry, rights for minorities, and social services for the poor; left wing.

PEMEX

Nationally owned oil industry in Mexico

Pendulum effect

the idea that the PRI swung from the far left to the far right; depending on who was leading it.

Politicos

oldy style caciques who headed the camarillas

Senate

128-member legislative body that are directly elected for 6-year terms using a mixed election system.

Sexenio

each president is limited to a single six-year term

Technicos

educated, business oriented leaders with a moderate, free-market approach to politics