Political Science 221, Latin American Politics Winter Term 2005

Session 5: Neoliberalism and Its Discontents: Mexico

I. How did the institutionalization of the Mexican Revolution unravel in the Lost Decade?

A. The Institutionalization of Social Revolution in Mexico

1) Why Institutionalize a Revolution?

2) Mexican Corporatism

a) The PRI (graphic)

b) Urban Groups

c) Rural Groups

B. Anatomy of the Debt Crisis (graphic)

1) Organizing to Handle the Crisis (graphic) (graphic)

2) Why Was Mexico An Early Adjuster? (graphic)

C. Social Effects of the Lost Decade in Mexico (graphic)

II. How did the Mexican state fail to deal with these enduring problems?

A. How the Mexican Government Responded to the Crisis

1) Neoliberalism (graphic) (graphic)

2) Neocorporatism (graphic)

3) Clientelism (graphic)

B. Why the Response Failed

III. Are Mexico's problems too deep for the state to matter? The causes and meaning of the Chiapas revolt.

Debate #2: Chiapas

IV. Reconsidering the Neoliberal Reform Agenda

Key Concepts: the problem of succession; sexenios; dedazo; destape; PRI, PAN, & PRD; Porfiriato; ejidos; "the tragic dozen"; bankers' dilemma (the large-n collective action problem); conditionality; the Baker Plan; the Brady Plan; linkage v. leverage; bankers' coalitions; "orthodox paradox"; non-wage income; the informal sector/economy; disposable income; the Economic Solidarity Pact (1988) (PRONASOL); NAFTA; the 1994-1995 peso crisis; "open" unemployment v. aggregate "implicit" unemployment; underemployment; the myth of "fat Mexican women"; presidential camarillas.

Key Individuals: Porfirio Díaz; Francisco Madero; Emiliano Zapata; Pancho Villa; Álvaro Obregón; Plutarco Elías Calles; Lázaro Cárdenas; Fidel Velázquez; Luis Echeverría; José López Portillo; Miguel de la Madrid; Carlos Salinas de Gortari; Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas; Ernesto Zedillo; subcomandante Marcos; Vicente Fox; Jorge Castañeda.

Floating Comprehensive Exam Questions: Answer One (Due Tuesday, February 15)

(A) Assess to what extent neoliberal reform was justified by Mexico’s numerous crises during the 1980s and 1990s. Be sure to balance your assessment with both positive and negative aspects of neoliberal reform. Then conclude with an on-balance account of the net effect. (Hint: draw up an evaluative criteria that you can use to assess the effects of neoliberal reform).

(B) Howard Wiarda has argued that the more things change, the more they stay the same in Latin America. Develop a case study of Mexico and use it to evaluate Wiarda’s argument. Assess how much change has occurred in Mexico’s economic, social, and political development.

Note: If you choose not to answer one of these questions, you will have two more sets of exam questions to satisfy the two question requirement. Difficulty level increases with each set.