Mexican government and politics
The Economist ran a good analysis of Mexican politics, and in the process discussed Mexican government in ways that might be helpful to your students.
Calderón's hatful of troubles“WE WON just about everything,” said Beatriz Paredes, the president of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), in an accurate summing-up of the mid-term election on July 5th. Not only did the PRI... more than double its seats in the lower house of Congress. It also won five of the six state governorships in play and many important mayoralties. Although it won only 37% of the vote (on a turnout of 45%), the PRI will now take most of the decisions that matter over the next three years.
That is bad news for President Felipe Calderón, whose conservative National Action Party lost badly (see chart)... The [PRI], which spans the amorphous centre ground of Mexican politics, may also have been helped by the disarray of the left, which is split between supporters and opponents of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the man defeated by Mr Calderón in 2006...
Recession has laid bare the economy’s longstanding structural weaknesses. Monopolies or oligopolies, in industries ranging from telecommunications to cement, trim the long-term growth rate by 1% a year... Energy remains almost entirely in state hands. Oil production is falling by up to 10% a year... Mexico’s educational performance is poorer than it should be given its income level. Federal tax revenues are just 9% of GDP; public spending on infrastructure is declining. Mexico sank to 60th place (from 52nd last year) in the league table of competitiveness published by the World Economic Forum, a Swiss-based organisation...
The political system, marked by paralysis and corruption, needs attention, too. Such is the disillusion that almost 5.4% of those who voted spoiled their ballots, heeding a campaign by a network of middle-class activists. Many constitutional provisions were designed for one-party rule and need changing...
All of these initiatives mean taking on powerful vested interests. Whether that happens now depends more on the PRI than Mr Calderón...
It may take the stewards of the old order to usher in a new one.
Labels: Mexico, politics, regime
posted by Ken Wedding @ 7:38 AM
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