Politics of Mexico
... Spain ruled Mexico for three centuries, administering a vast economic, political, and religious empire in the interests of the imperial country, its kings, and its representatives in North America. Colonial policy was designed to extract wealth from New Spain (Mexico) and to limit possibilities for Spaniards in the New World to benefit from agriculture, commerce, or industry without at the same time benefiting Spain. ... In 1810, however, a parish priest in central Mexico named Miguel Hidalgo issued a rallying cry to a group assemble in a parish church in the town of Dolores. ... Despite the fact that independence from Spain was recognized in 1821, Mexico struggled to create a stable and legitimate government for decades thereafter (Grindle 382-383). ... Mexico’s political model theoretically has much in common with that of the United States. ... government, Mexico’s government is divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. In Mexico, however, the executive branch dominates the other branches to such an extent that the country effectively has a political system that is controlled by its president. For most of the 20th century, only one political party, the government-controlled Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), played an influential role in politics or in the decision-making process. ... Given the dominance of the executive over the legislative and judicial branches, interest groups and lobbyists similar to those found in the United States have not developed in Mexico. ... Therefore, most members of Mexico’s congress owe their political careers to the president. ... The president is the chief policy maker, and the executive branch has initiated 90 percent of Mexico’s legislation. ... The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate make up Mexico’s bicameral legislative body. ... As with the legislative branch, the judiciary has played a very minor role in Mexico’s political process. ... Mexico is experiencing a shift in public policy from a debate centered on "what should we do?