Question

Describe Mexico's system of government. Why is it collapsing despite it's similarity with the United States?

Answer 1

Answer:

Mexico is a federal republic composed of 31 states and the Federal District. Governmental powers are divided constitutionally between executive, legislative, and judicial branches, but, when Mexico was under one-party rule in the 20th century, the president had strong control over the entire system. The constitution of 1917, which has been amended several times, guarantees personal freedoms and civil liberties and also establishes economic and political principles for the country.

Explanation:

There is a mistaken tendency to attribute Mexican corruption to practices going back to the Spanish conquest. It is a theory of original sin that tracks the creation of a “culture of corruption” to the distance between royal authority and local rulers, and that has Hernán Cortés’ famous phrase, “I obey but I do not comply,” as a token that is as iconic for Mexican national culture — and as apocryphal — as George Washington’s alleged compulsion to confess that he’d chopped down a cherry tree.

But attributing Mexico’s current problems to such ancient history does not withstand scrutiny. The sort of corruption that was rife in colonial New Spain — buying and selling political posts, currying political favors from friends, bootlegging, etc. — was similar to what you had in in Italy or Chile, and even in not-so-puritanical England. And yet, neither Italy, Chile nor England have Mexico’s problems. Something else happened since the Spanish conquest that can account for the difference. Sadly, though, that account lacks the appealing simplicity of cherry tree mythologies.