Constitutional Structure
Mexico is a federal republic that comprises 31 states and a Federal District, which is the seat of the federal government. Each of the federal states is administratively divided into several municipalities that form the basis of local government. The country derives its governmental structure from the constitution adopted in 1917, which clearly delineates the separation of powers between the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary. According to the constitution, national sovereignty lies with the people of Mexico who are also constitutionally guaranteed a set of personal freedoms and civil liberties.
Mexico's Parliament
Mexico's Parliament is divided into the Senate, which is the upper house, and the Chamber of Deputies, which forms the lower house. Members of the Senate are elected for a term of six years while those of the Chamber of Deputies are elected for three. Members of both houses are barred from seeking reelection for the immediate succeeding term. The Senate comprises of two representatives from each of the 31 states and the Federal District while the Chamber of Deputies consists of 400. Of the 400 deputies, three-fifths are elected directly through relative majority while the rest are selected on the basis of proportional representation of the total votes polled by all the political parties.
Office of President
The executive wing of power is in the hands of the President of Mexico who is elected for a fixed six-year term with no provision for reelection. The constitution empowers the President to select a cabinet and also to appoint high officials of the state like the attorney general, ambassadors, high-ranking military officers, and the justices of the Supreme Court. The President also enjoys the power to issue decrees that have the effect of law. For most of Mexico's modern history, the President exercised greater control of the governmental system over the other two branches especially during most of the 20 th Century when Mexico was effectively a one-party state. But since the late 20 th century the legislature has begun to exert greater power and influence.
Mexican Party System
Present-day Mexico is a multi-party democracy. Among the several registered political parties that take part in the federal and local elections, the prominent ones are the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the National Action Party (PAN), and the Party of Democratic Revolution (PRD). Earlier, the PRI ruled Mexico continuously till the late 1990s and it was only in 1997 that it lost control of the Chamber of Deputies and in 2000 its presidential candidate lost out to the PAN-led coalition's candidate. Apart from the above-mentioned three main parties that have vied for power ever since, there are also a number of smaller parties that enjoy considerable electoral support particularly the Mexican Ecological Green Party (PVEM), the Labour Party (PT), and the Democratic Convergence Party (PCD).
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