Mexican Politics and Culture Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Mexican Politics and Culture - Research Paper Example Since it gained independence from Great Britain, America has chosen the federal presidential form. Canada has long been federal parliamentary. Mexico on the other hand, seems to base its government structure with America. The United Mexican States (commonly known as Mexico) has no royal families unlike Canada. Mexico appears to have a very similar political system with United States due to the following factors: (1) presidential system (2) three autonomous branches (executive, legislative and judiciary) with checks and balances (3) federalism with a good amount of local autonomy. Notably, despite their sameness in political system, America and Mexico do not have the same economic status (Stacy, 2002). Like Canada, United States is one of the developed and industrialized countries of the world whereas Mexico belongs to the developing nations (Stacy, 2002). In lieu of that fact, this research paper will explore the respective political system of Mexico and United States. This will be f ollowed by a brief analysis of their similarities. At the end, an assessment shall be provided on whether or not their similar political structure is the reason for their economic disparity. The Mexican Political System Rogelio Hernandez-Rodriguez (2003) described the Mexican government as authoritative and the most successful to maintain a system which is dominated by one party. The PRI or the Institutional Revolutionary Party has long been controlling Mexican politics. This political party has ruled Mexico for almost seventy-one years (Klesner, 2005). Majority of the elected government officials of Mexico are affiliated with PRI. The authoritative nature of Mexican government is attributed to this fact. Nevertheless, despite the hegemony of PRI, Mexico has been politically stable (Rodriguez, 2003). The other political parties have done nothing bad for the government. It has been stressed that the country’s single party and presidential type of government are the major eleme nts of its effective institutional structure (Huntington, as cited in Rodriguez, 2003, p. 97). This is quite logical since a political party which continues to rule for several years can always focus on implementing its platforms. A one-party system promotes continuity of projects and more social services. Nonetheless, it does not allow other parties to contribute ideas to a great degree. The interest of the dominating party is always at the forefront of every political move. In fairness to Mexican citizens, they have been observed to recognize the reign of a single political party. Social acceptance of this reality has been imminent (Rodriguez, 2003). It could even be asserted that to a certain point, these citizens have been passive about the party’s dominance. Significantly, PRI experienced defeat in the last 2000 presidential election. The outcome of the election has shocked many journalists and politicians (Klesner, 2005). It was almost unbelievable on the part of Instit utional Revolutionary Party. One possible reason for the party’s defeat is the Mexican citizens’ discontentment or dismay with the administration largely controlled by PRI. The National Action Party’s (PAN) Vicente Fox won that particular election and served as Mexican president from 2000 to 2006 (Klesner, 2005). In the 2006 presidential race, a PAN candidate was also elected named Felipe Calderon (Klesner, 2005).