by Krycek Fink

Created on: September 10, 2009   Last Updated: October 05, 2009

The news from Mexico on drug trafficking, gang spillage and accusations of its citizens lowering the wage for U.S. workers say nothing about Mexico. They don't describe a place where a rich civilization began one of the earliest governments.

Many outside of Mexico seem to think that Mexico is a culture of every bad desire such as marijuana, prostitution, and Spanish fly. Not only is this a racist stereotype of its people but implies a lawlessness of hedonism and violence. When in fact, Mexico is a very sophisticated government that writes laws.

It runs a government very much like the U.S. where power is shared among three branches of government. Like the U.S., they have an Executive Branch that has the power to declare war, advise and consent, appoint judges and veto bills. The Legislative Branch runs a upper house (Senate) and a lower house (House of Deputies) which writes laws. It also has a Judicial Branch where these laws are reviewed.

All three branches are elected by a plurality (most votes) wins election. The Presidency is won by a popular vote. Like the U.S. President, the Mexican president has the power to appoint and Congress either accepts or rejects their nominees.

The House of Deputies is similar to how the U.S. selects its Congress. Mexico has a Senate with 2 representatives for each of the 31 states. Three quarters of The House of Deputies, whose number of representatives change according to the population are elected by a plurality and a quarter of the seats are allocated to a party based on their share of the national vote.

The differences lie in the lack of an electoral college and a 50% majority for all of their elections. These two unassumingly important items are used here as a defense against majority rule and large populous states for the past and the present.

It's worth noting that the process for choosing a Congress for Mexico and the U.S. is more selective that the Presidency. The Congress has a more balanced representation because it needs a more balanced input when making laws. It is clearly the body of government where the power really lies.

This combination of Legislative, Executive and Judiciary branches has supremacy over its 31 states when it comes to regulating commerce, settling disputes among states and deploying the military. Otherwise the sovereign states do defer to a strong central government on certain things. Mexico also has an equivalent to a local city government. Federalism is common among both Mexico and the U.S.

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>