Explaining the Failure of Mexico’s National Commission of Human Rights (Ombudsman’s Office) after Democratization: Elections, Incentives, and Unaccountability in the Mexican Senate

Mexico??s ombudsman??s office (the Comision Nacional de Derechos Humanos (CNDH)), established in 1990 by a nondemocratic government, posed no threat to the then ruling party. Counter to expectations, even after Mexico democratized in 2000, the CNDH remained unwilling to challenge officials for human rights violations. I argue that this is because the ombudsman (the head of the CNDH) is chosen by Mexican Senators who are not accountable??due to secret voting and a prohibition on reelection??to the Mexican public. While civil society wanted a powerful ombudsman, the three main parties did not. Ignoring the public, Senators responded to their parties and appointed a compliant individual to serve as ombudsman, thereby ensuring that the CNDH would not challenge those who held political power. The paper suggests that where accountability institutions, such as human rights offices, are chosen by unaccountable actors (in this case the Mexican Senate), the development of such accountability institutions will be limited.     

The geographic scope of migration in Mexico City

"This paper reports some results of analyzing migratory dynamics in the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City, which ever since the 1970-1980 decade have affected other regions of the country, mainly the State of Mexico. The analysis describes different types and modes of migratory movement: metropolitan (from Mexico City), inter-county (within each state), and interstate (between Mexico City and other states). Data was provided by the XI Population and Household Census of 1990." (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

The metropolitan character of urbanization in Mexico, 1900-1988

The author analyzes trends in urbanization in Mexico during the twentieth century, with a focus on the impact of rapid industrialization since 1982. Sections are included on the interrelations among economic development, industrialization, and urbanization; stages, levels, and measures of urbanization; the development of the city system in Mexico; and stages in the growth of Mexico City. (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

Metropolitan areas in Mexico, 1980

Urban trends in Mexico from 1960 to 1980 are analyzed using multivariate analysis techniques. The authors note that the total number of metropolitan regions has increased from 12 to 26 during this period. Differences between the stage in urbanization reached by the Mexico City region and other urban centers in the country are noted. In Mexico City, the authors observe a decline in the population of the central city region coupled with rapid growth in the surrounding municipalities. (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

The cholera epidemic of 1833 and mortality in Mexico City

The author examines the impact of the 1833 cholera epidemic in Mexico City, Mexico, on social, economic, and political aspects of life in that city. She finds that some five percent of the population died during the epidemic, and enumerates them by age and sex.     

Spaces for community involvement: Processes of disciplining and appropriation

Over the past two decades, Mexican society, economics and culture have undergone a dramatic set of transformations. Accordingly, certain historical narratives that underpinned Mexican national identity formation throughout the 20th century have begun to unravel. As a result of this process, some scholars posit that a ‘post-national’ political culture is emerging in Mexico. This paper seeks to examine these trends through a critical examination of the narratives around national identity found in interviews conducted in Mexico in 2000. As a theoretical frame, this paper begins by examining the concept of post-nationalism. It then turns to an overview of 20th-century national formation in Mexico to provide a contextual basis for the interpreting the interview excerpts. The resulting analysis demonstrates the co-presence of national and post-national narratives in Mexico, both of which display hegemonic and subaltern dimensions. The particular discursive contours of these narratives have roots, this paper argues, in the contemporary intersection of state authoritarianism and neo-liberal globalisation.     

The control of urban growth in Mexico City. Suppositions regarding poor planning

It is argued that mechanisms for planning land use and controlling urban expansion in Mexico City have failed to achieve their aims. Although in theory Mexico's urban planning process has recently attempted to go beyond purely physical aspects to include socioeconomic dimensions, it has in fact been inflexible and oriented to exclusively to technical and administrative aspects, to the detriment of social distribution goals. Planning instruments have not included important aspects such as specific mechanisms for altering employment structures or income levels or mechanisms for providing access to land or housing to the most disadvantaged groups. The urban planning process in Mexico City, instead of assuming a socially compensatory role in favor of disadvantaged groups, has maintained the status quo or discriminated in favor of the already advantaged. The spatial and technical orientation or urban planning in Mexico City does not leave room for a well-defined social policy. The population of the Mexico City metropolitan Zone increased from 3 million in 1950 to 18 million in 1985, while its total area increased from 11,750 hectares in 1940 to 125,000 in 1985. Transfer of population from the Federal District to the conurban municipios of the state of Mexico has been very significant since the 1970s. Around 20% of the total area of metropolitan Mexico City has been settled through illegal means, with communal and ejido lands accounting for a large share. Settlements on some 60% of lands in metroplitan Mexico City were illegal or irregular at some time. Low income housing is the cheapest form for the government because the frequently illegal status of settlers prevents them from making any demands for services or equipment for the 1st several years. Construction is undertaken and financed almost entirely by the settlers themselves, freeing the government of responsibility in regard to the constitutionally mandated right of all Mexicans to housing. The Urban Development Plan of the state of Mexico published in 1986 proposed 2 important programs for controlling urban growth. The territorial reserves program aimed to anticipate the need and make available through purchase, expropriation, or other means sufficient lands for housing to which the lowest income groups would share access. The "Paint Your Line" program establiished physical limits for urban expansion in each of the 17 conurban municipios in the State of Mexico. To date, however, few lands have been set aside for legal acquisition and the Paint Your Line program has been slow in delimiting the areas to be settled. Data from a 1989 study in the municipios of Chalco and Ixtapaluca demonstrate the shortcomings of the programs, which do not address the true processes and agents that control new settlements and especially illegal occupations and which fail to satisfy the needs of low-income population sectors.     

US–Mexico relations under Trump

If US President-elect Trump were to fulfil his strident campaign promises on immigration and trade with respect to Mexico, prospects for left-wing, populist candidates in the 2018 Mexican presidential election would likely improve. Victory for such a candidate could make Mexico significantly more antagonistic to the United States.     

Mexicans react to electoral fraud and political corruption: an assessment of public opinion and voting behavior

Despite various electoral reforms enacted in Mexico between 1988 and 1994, large numbers of Mexicans doubted the honesty of elections and the general integrity of their country's policy making process. Such doubts did not automatically lead, however, to support for opposition parties that called for greater democratization. Rather, voter preferences were largely dependent on judgments about the opposition's viability and competence. Widespread suspicions about fraud and corruption in Mexico did affect electoral outcomes by making it less likely that potential opposition supporters turned out to vote. Data are drawn from seven national public opinion surveys conducted in Mexico in 1986, 1988, 1991, 1994 (3 polls), and 1995.     

Beyond asymmetry: cooperation,conflict and globalisation in Mexico-China relations

Abstract

Academic commentary has long emphasised the asymmetry in Mexico-China relations. In particular, much attention has focussed since the early 1990s particularly from the Mexican side on the economic imbalance in trade and investment that has become and remains acute with the expansion of the economy of the People's Republic of China. This is though far from the only sense in which the relationship between the two countries is asymmetrical. There is also a severe imbalance in the relative importance of politics and economics as determinants of this relationship for both China and Mexico. The Mexican Government seems to be more concerned with its economic relationship with China. In contrast, the PRC Government seems more concerned with its political relationship with Mexico. Moreover, there is a further asymmetry in the respective significance that each appears to have to the other as a partner. Mexico plays a small role in China's outlook but China looms large in Mexico's worldview. Identification of a number of cross-cutting asymmetrical relationships suggests that a bilateral perspective may not be the most effective for understanding the interaction or potential interaction between Mexico and China. On the contrary, there is more logic to the elements of cooperation and conflict between Mexico and China when their relationship is viewed in the wider, multilateral context of globalisation.     

A new migratory horizon in Central Mexico: 1970-1990

"During the last few decades migration in Central Mexico has undergone important changes. Not only have populations been moving increasingly towards the periphery and decreasingly towards the center, but those originally living in the center are also moving to the immediate periphery. This behavior allows us to claim that Central Mexico is undergoing a process of deconcentration or suburbanization. This study describes the way in which such a process has developed and the situation of geographical entities within that process. Analysis of the new regional configuration takes into account demographic growth and the direction and characteristics of migration in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area and its surrounding states during the last twenty years." (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

Recasting Federalism in Mexico

Decentralization of political power and administrative decision-makingduring the last three presidential administrations (1982–2000)has recast federalism in Mexico and sharply altered intergovernmentalrelations between the levels of government and between the principalbranches. Although decentralization cannot be equated conceptuallywith federalism, their relationship is extremely tight in Mexico.The shift toward a more decentralized regime is an outcome offederal government policies and political liberalization. Politicalpluralism and the demise of centralism were further intensifiedby the 1997 midterm elections. The rapidly changing politicalclimate in Mexico has increasingly demanded that the reallocationof power be genuine, that is, that power be shared not onlyvertically, with the various levels of government, but alsohorizontally, with the other branches as well.     

Employment and urban growth; an application of Czamanski's model to the Mexican case

The author applies the 1964 model developed by Stanislaw Czamanski, based on theories of urban growth and industrial localization, to the analysis of urban growth in Mexico. "The advantages of this model in its application as a support instrument in the process of urban planning when the information available is incomplete are...discussed...." Census data for 44 cities in Mexico are used. (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

Democratic Deepening in Third Wave Democracies: Experiments with Participation in Mexico City

After the initial transition to democratic rule the question of how to improve the quality of democracy has become the key challenge facing Third Wave democracies. In the debate about the promotion of more responsive government, institutional reforms to increase direct participation of citizens in policy-making have been put on the agenda. The Federal District of Mexico City constitutes a particularly intriguing case in this debate. This article explores how political participation developed in Mexico City between 1997 and 2003 and what effects this has had on democratic deepening. It develops an ideal-type conceptual framework of citizen participation that outlines the conditions under which participation contributes to democratic deepening. Overall, the case of Mexico City highlights how the promotion of participation can fail to make the aspired contribution to democratic deepening and might even have negative effects on the quality of democracy.     

Urban preindustrial nuptiality and the limits on intermarriage: characteristics and evolution of marriage practices in Mexico City, 1700-1850

The author examines marriage patterns in Mexico City, Mexico, during the eighteenth century. The strongly female-oriented sex ratio and strict social and ethnic marriage customs, including racial endogamy, are cited as causes for the preponderance of unions between young women and older men. Sections are included on marriages among and within ethnic groups, second marriages, and the stiffening of restrictions on intermarriage over the period.     

Shaping of the migratory process in northern Mexico, 1930-1990

"During the third decade of this century Mexican geographical structure began to change notoriously. Due to the strong influence of [the] North American economy, the north of Mexico became progressively one of the most important regions in the country, with the emergence of favorable perspectives of economic growth. Soon it became attractive to migration from the demographically pressed regions of Central Mexico. Thus, the north of Mexico was favored by the presence of qualified workers and a growing population. However, the region was not evenly populated, due to geographic, historic, and socio-economic factors that...[affect] the processes of migration and settlement. Some regions present important changes in their migratory flow, evidenced by the presence of new entities of origin and the disappearance of others." (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

Regional Transboundary Cooperation Efforts in Centralist States: Conflicts and Responses in France and Mexico

France and Mexico have long traditions of highly centralizedgovernment. Nevertheless,in each case, populations in borderregions, which are distant from the national capital, have closeinformal cultural and economic ties with neighboring populationsin adjacent nations. In France, tensions between central authoritiesand local and regional authorities over greater internationalcooperation at the local and regional levels have been especiallyevident in Alsace, France's "window" on Europe's economic heartland.Administrative decentralization measures now being implementedin France will probably enhance transborder cooperation, thoughFrance still has not formally endorsed the European OutlineConvention on Transfrontier Cooperation. The Mexican governmentmaintains its historic resistance to dependency on the UnitedStates, and emphasizes policies to integrate its border citiesmore closely with the rest of Mexico. However, Mexico, likeFrance, could give greater attention to the development of internationalagreements that respect national sovereignty as well as thewishes of border peoples for closer transborder cooperation.     

Mortality in Mexico. Some considerations on rural-urban differentials

"In this essay, certain aspects related to rural-urban mortality differentials in Mexico are analyzed....[These include] the availability, advantages, and limitations of different sources of information and the disparity of levels and tendencies according to particular indicators of acceptable reliability, especially those deriving from recent demographic surveys conducted in Mexico. The findings confirm an inverse ratio between size of settlement and mortality, and reveal a widening of the differentials over time." (SUMMARY IN ENG)