Mexico FRQs

Conceptual Analysis: We suggest that you spend approximately 30 minutes on question 1

1. Legislatures are important institutions in both authoritarian and democratic regimes.
            (a) Identify a function of a legislature that is common to both democratic and             

                  authoritarian regimes.                                                                                                 

            (b) Explain how a function of a legislature can strengthen democracy.
            (c) Describe two ways a legislature can be controlled in an authoritarian regime.
            (d) Explain why authoritarian regimes maintain legislatures.

Conceptual Analysis: We suggest that you spend approximately 30 minutes on question 2

2. Political economy involves the study of the relationship between states and markets.

1.     (a)  Define economic liberalization.

2.     (b)  Describe the actions governments take in pursuing a policy of economic liberalization regarding TWO of the following:

Subsidies
Tariffs
Ownership of companies and firms                                                                  

 Foreign direct investment

3.     (c)  Identify one international organization that promotes economic liberalization.

4.     (d)  Explain one reason for pursuing economic liberalization.

5.     (e)  Explain one reason for resisting economic liberalization.

Drug War and It's Effects On Democracy in Mexico

Read the following Article: Massacred Democracy in Mexico

How has recent drug-related violence affected the country’s politics? Does such violence fundamentally threaten the ongoing democratic transition?

Mexico Vocabulary (concepts)

Amerindians
Calderon, Filipe
camarillas
Camber of Deputies
Chiapas Rebellion
corporatism
co-optation
debt crises
Diaz, Porfirio
ejidos (ejidotarios)
election reform
Federal Election Institute (IFE)
Federal Election Commission
Fox, Vicente
GATT
"Mexican Miracle"
PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party)
maquiladoras
mestizos
multiparty system
Neoliberalism
PAN (National Action Party)
NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)
Obrador, Andres Manuel
parastatals
Mixed election systems (FPTP & SPTP, PR)
one party-dominant system
PRD (Party of the Democratic Revolution)
patron-client politics (system)
PEMEX
Sexenio
Principle of non-reelection
ISI (Import substitution Industtrialization)
SAP (Structural Adjustment Programs)
Zapatistas

Parastatals

Create a list of parastals / industries the text mentions by name.  When were they nationalized, when were they privatized, when were they popular(growing), when were they in decline, how many and which ones remain?


Read the following article on Mexico's oil parastatal
PEMEX

Mexico and the Global Economy

Check your notes on page 213 or re-read the section

1.What is the importance of GATT (when, why, legacy)
2. What were the negatives of NAFTA for Mexico? (3rd paragraph)
     Be clear on why sovereignty is an issue
3. What were the risks for the USA?
4. How is Globalization affecting Mexico's sovereignty?

Clientelism

Go to the following website and read the 1st 3 pages of the article

Clientelism

1.  Why are Clientelistic networks difficult to remove?
2. What are the dangers of these networks? positives?
3. How are formal systems of governance manifest?
4. How are informal systems of government manifest?
5. Describe the relationship between clients and patrons
6. What is a Cacique? (how does it work and at what level)

Mexico's Presidents

Use the following link to complete your chart on Mexico's Presidents, their policies, and the direction they took the country.

Britannica on-line

These are very brief summaries of Mexico's Presidents and their legacies.  You will need to supplement what you write down on your chart with information from your text.

Create a T-chart with one side labeled reformist and the other conservative. The left side of your paper should look like a descending timeline from Calles through Pena Nieto.  Record the policies/activities of each president in descending/chronological order in the appropriate columns.  Identify which policies were neoliberal in nature and which led to greater democracy.

In class Monday

Elias Calles
Lazaro Cardenas
Jose Lopez Portillo
Miguel de la Madrid
Carlos Salinas
Ernesto Zedillo
Vicente Fox
Filipe Calderon

Mexico Reading Schedule

We lost a day last Thursday to snow (yeah!) You need to have section 3 read by Tuesday and section 4 read by Friday.  We will have a Chapter test on Wednesday and Thursday before the break (17th and 18th)

Mexico Briefing Paper

Read the Mexico Briefing Paper by Friday 12/6

Pay close attention to everything from the Porfiriato foreword

Mexico Unit

The first country we will look at is Mexico.  We'll begin by looking at Mexico's history and development of Mexico's political institutions and culture.  Students need to complete the following for Tuesday:

Read pages 199-206

Answer the following questions:
1.  What was the impact of the revolution of 1910 on the creation of the Mexican constitution in 1917?
            A.  What did the constitution formally establish?
            B.  What were the (5) clear results of the 1910 revolution and Calle's consolidation of power?

2.  Define Clientelism, Corporatist state, and civil society.
             A.  How does Clientelism and a Corporatist state strengthen state power?
             B.  One of the chief criticisms of corporatism is that it

1. Encourages labor unrest
2. Creates too many groups
3. Often limits representative processes
4. Involves too little government participation
5. Involves too little interest group participation

Mexico Political Map

Use the following websites to complete the map that was handed out in class.
(handed out in class Thursday before break)

2006 Presidential Election

        Scroll down to the bottom of the page and use the chart Titled North-South Divide.