FREE ESSAY ON MEXICAN DEMOCRACY

MEXICAN DEMOCRACY

Jim Sullivan
Mexican Democracy
When one thinks of Mexico the first thing that often comes to mind are all of the old
Westerns where the bad guys would run to Mexico to escape and good guys were attacked by
desperados and also government troops. This stereotype is not too far off from the actual
political situation in Mexico. If one were to look at the history of this troubled nation
one would find a universal lack of stable government and a tendency towards military run
dictatorships. This comes from a turbulent history fraught with foreign influence and
puppet governments. The most recent foreign intervention was in the 1850's when the
French sent troops over to Mexico in order to establish a puppet government under
Archduke Maxamillian of Austria. His reign was short-lived and revolutionaries executed
him after his surrender in May of 1867. The revolutionary leader Benito Juarez then
assumed the presidency. His reign only lasted five years until another revolution lead by
Porfiro Diaz. Diaz was the leader in Mexican politics for 35 years until he was finally
overthrown. This progression didn't end with Diaz, his successor, Francisco Madero, was
overthrown and executed by General Victoriano Huerta, a brutal military dictator who was
in power for a short time then overthrown in a new wave of revolutions. This flow of
leaders coming to power then being overthrown has lead to a very unstable Mexican
political structure. The trend of the losers in an election starting a revolution in
response continued until General Lazaro Cardenas came to power in 1934 and became the
first president in Mexican history to serve out a full term. The next president, Avila
Camacho was the one to organize the PRI, the political party that continues to dominate
in Mexico even today. 
The problems with the present Mexican political system are many in number. First
historically the solution to political dispute has always been to start a rebellion. This
leads to an extremely unstable situation where candidates may be intimidated out of
running for office for fear of their lives. Next even when there has been a stable
government the governments have been weak and often fail to accomplish any real progress.
Finally the biggest obstacle to true democracy in Mexico is that the average person has
had very little representation in the government. This is due to the fact that this
current Mexican governmental structure, in place since the 30's has been dominated by one
party, the PRI, and has been essentially a one party system. For the common people this
means they can either not vote or vote for the party they may or may not support. 
To remedy this situation is not an easy task. The current Mexican system is a
federal-presidential system, using first past the post elections. The mostly FPP system
is what has allowed the PRI to stay in power because it is very hard for new parties to
win significant numbers of seats. The first amendment to the Mexican system would be the
electoral system. To gain entrance to the political sphere in the current system a party
may win some seats with the small PR but still must win a majority of votes in a given
district or districts. This is very difficult for a new party who people would be afraid
to support due to the fact that they don't know it or that they may not vote for because
they know it will not win. My recommendation would be to change to a 50/50 mix of first
past the post and proportional representation in the Mexican legislature. Going to a
50/50 mix is better than a total PR switch because total PR often leads to political
instability with coalition and minority governments. In a country such as Mexico that has
a history of instability any new elements of conflict would be bad. With the new
electoral system smaller parties that already exist such as local parties or current
fringe parties could gain power in the legislature and force the PRI to change and adapt
to the will of the people. The increased diversity in the legislature would lead to some
conflict but in the long run it would be much better than an essentially single party
system. The Presidential elections would also have to be changed. This must also be
amended to ensure that PRI control the presidency. In the current system the outgoing
president nominates their successor on the party level, then the elections between this
candidate and the opposition take place. The presidential electoral system should be
changed to a form like the one used in France or the CIS. This is a two-ballot system
that if no candidate gets a clear majority then the top two candidates have a runoff
election and the top candidate in that election wins. This would help make it easier for
upcoming parties' candidates to gain national recognition if not the office they seek.
With these changes the whole governmental system would be open for new candidates and
parties. With the new parties the politicians would have to actually represent the
people's wishes to get the votes. 
In terms of the actual type of government that should be in place in Mexico the current
federal system with a legislature and president, is probably the best system for the
land. A parliamentary system with the ever-present possibility of a no confidence vote
would be too volatile for the Mexican political world. If Mexico did go tot a
parliamentary system then there would be the distinct possibility of a situation like
that in Italy, where governments seldom last more than a year or two. The presidential
system allows for enough authority over the legislature to promote stability and also it
doesn't put the parties in the position of having to nominate and vote on a Prime
Minister when they come to power. 
In conclusion, the historical precedents in Mexico are decidedly in favor of instability
and rebellion when the outcome is not in a candidate's favor. Although Mexico has had a
long period of stability continued assassinations and threats of violence are a constant
reminder of the looming danger of rebellion. This period of stability in Mexican
government has been controlled almost exclusively by the PRI, the top party. To make the
Mexican system more democratic and allow for a diversity of opinion and points of view,
the electoral system should be changed from mostly FPP and a little PR to a 50/50 mix of
FPP and PR. This would allow people to vote the reality vote of who is likely to win in
their district for FPP but also to make the conscience vote of whom they really want to
vote for and not feel as though they were throwing away their vote. The current
presidential system should be left intact because it is the most stability promoting
system and this is a definite benefit for the Mexican system.
Bibliography
Works Consulted
Alba, Victor. A Concise History of Mexico. London, Cassell, 1973
Fornaro, Carlo de. Carranza and Mexico. New York, M Kennerly, 1915
International Congress of Mexican History. Contemporary Mexico: Papers of the IV
International Congress of Mexican History. Berkley, University of California Press, 1976
La Botz, Dan. Democracy in Mexico: Peasant Rebellion and Political Reform. Boston, South
End Press, 1995
MacLachlan, Colin M. Anarchism and the Mexican Revolution: The Political Trials of
Ricardo Flores Magon in the United States. Berkley, University of California Press, 1991
The Age of Poriforio Diaz. Albuquerque, University of New Mexico Press, 1977