By Richard N. Baldwin T. /HispanicVista.com

From Mexico
March 7, 2010

By Richard N. Baldwin T. HispanicVista.com
Political Comparisons

     I offer the following in the spirit of a better understanding between the peoples United States and México. In understanding the reasons of some of our differences, a look at history is essential. However, this is not meant to be a history lesson but to give background.

     México, like the US, is a federal republic made up of 31 "sovereign" states. These make up a Federal Republic founded from a constitution (that dates from 1917) and is a government consisting of three branches: Executive, Legislative and Judicial. Sound familiar?

     The legislative branch is made up of a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies, (as is the US House of Representatives). Senators serve a six-year term and the Deputies serve a three-year term. The Mexican congress consists of the Senate with 128 seats, 96 elected and 32 proportional. The Chamber (House of Representatives) consists of 500 seats, 300 elected and 200 proportional. But here is a deference. In addition to the voted members, these "proportional" seats are appointed, not voted in. These seats are distributed proportionately by the total votes that each political party gets in the election. Each party submits a list before the election and after the election they divide up the proportional list along party lines. In other words, if party "A" gets 20% of the vote, they get 20 percent of the proportional seats from the top of their list. The reasoning for this is no more convoluted than the existence of the Electoral College in the US. All voting in México is by popular vote.

     There are a total of 6 parties in the congress but three are the main parties. The Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) on the left, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in the center left that until recently ruled as the majority party here for 71 years and the National Action Party (PAN) on the center right. As it is now, no party has a lock on the government. It requires cooperation across party lines to get anything done. There are "splinter" parties that enter into the fray also. Sometimes a bill gets passed with votes from the PRI and PAN and sometimes from the PRD and PAN, depending on the details of the bill.

     Now, here is the biggest difference in the political systems. In the US, all offices except for the President (after 1948) are open to unlimited reelection. In México, there is no reelection. In lower offices, you can serve additional terms, but not successive. So, in the US we have a political class that can stay in office until a complete disconnect with the voters. In México, we have only a freshman congress and all other offices. The worst part of this is that once elected, there is no incentive to please your voters because you are already a lame duck. The only ones for you to please are your party bosses.

     If you want to pursue a political career, it is up to your party to find another spot for you to continue in. And here is where those "proportional" seats come into play. You do a good job for the party as a Deputy and you will get high on the list for next election's Senate seat. Add to this is the total immunity that office holders enjoy here now. I remember one federal deputy who was indicted in our "Pemex" scandal that still walks free, without any trial because his party protects him by bouncing him from office to office and is therefore untouchable.

     The bottom line here is that the parties have enormous power in México.

     President Porfirio Diaz served 24 years before he was overthrown by senility and being used as a puppet by powers "behind the throne". After that revolution, reelection was eliminated across the board. Also remember that it was F. D. Roosevelt's fourth elected term that triggered the two-term limit of the US presidency. But México's reaction was more extreme.

     My personal belief is that both countries' reelection laws are extreme. I would support something in the middle for both. Maybe two terms for the president, three terms for deputies or representatives and two for senators. In fact, such a change is proposed in the legislative reform package that is being worked on now in México. And included in the legislative reform package is a reduction of the number of members along with reducing or eliminating the proportional seats. But our parties are not going to give up power without a fight.

     Mexico has been making progress in reforms. Like a sweeping judicial reform enacted that includes presumption of innocence and public trials. But implementing deep changes take time and patience. In the case of open trials, we have to build courtrooms and train a completely new class of lawyers across the nation. But this is already beginning at the state level.

     One of the most important was ending a one party rule that lasted for 71 years.
I would expect to see something in the future happening in the US to close the disconnect between the voters and Washington. A real storm is brewing there.

     From time to time, I will return to this subject to show how some of the differences between our two countries were shaped by history.

________________________________
Richard N. Baldwin T., a HispanicVista.com (www.hispanicvista.com) contributing columnist, lives in Tlalnepantla, Edo de México. E-mail at: R1041643422@aol.com