FREE ESSAY ON COMPARATIVE POLITICS OF THE FRENCH AND MEXICAN GOVERNMENTS

COMPARATIVE POLITICS OF THE FRENCH AND MEXICAN GOVERNMENTS

Political Science 113 Prof. Laremont Ronald Summers
The political systems of today's world vary tremendously as you span the world. Each of
these systems has gone through an evolution based on mistakes of the past and the needs
of a stable and equal government. Most nations throughout the world observe political
means through either Unitary or Federal legislation. The Federal government of Mexico and
the unitary government of France are perfect examples of the differences and similarities
of unicameral and bicameral legislature.
When looking at the political systems we must first understand the ideologies behind it.
The main ideology that has help to define the French political system is that of
bicameral legislation. In bicameral legislation the power of making laws is vested into
two chambers, both, which must approve a bill before it officially becomes a law. In
French politics these two chambers are part of the parliament. One chamber of parliament
is the National assembly, which is elected directly by the people, and the second chamber
is the senate, in which the Electoral College indirectly elected the members. A bicameral
system can be either unitary or federal. The French government is unitary which means
that laws give virtually all authority to the central government. The central government
may delegate duties to cities or other administrative units, but it retains final
authority and can retract any tasks it has delegated. The central government in a unitary
system is much more powerful than the central government in a federal system. The reason
a central government is more powerful in a system is because unitary governments exercise
one level of government unlike that of a federal government which relies on both the
central and local governments. 
France's political system consist of both a president and a prime minister. The president
is elected for a seven-year term by direct popular vote. The presidential powers preside
over the Council of Ministers, the High Council of the Judiciary, and as the commander of
the armed forces. The president selects the prime minister and appoints cabinet
ministers. The prime minister and the Council of Ministers are responsible only to the
National Assembly. The prime minister power is minute when compared to that of the
president. The president can also elect a new prime minister if he feels the current is
not doing his/her job. 
The French Parliament has two chambers, with supreme legislative authority abided in the
National Assembly. The 321 members of the senate serve 9-year terms and are indirectly
elected by an electoral college. The Senate has the right to examine and render opinions
on legislation. The senate also examines policies initiated by the National Assembly and
has the power to delay the passage of legislation. If the two chambers disagree on a bill
the final decision rests with the National Assembly. The National Assembly gives 5-year
terms to its 577 deputies, since they are chosen directly by the people. The national
assembly also has the power to censure the president and prime minister. Members of
National Assembly are elected through single member district plurality, while notables
elect the senate through indirect elections.
France enjoys both the benefits of a single member district polarity and proportional
representation. Single member district elections are used when choosing the president and
the national assembly since they are both chosen by popular vote. Proportional
representation takes effect for the senate based on the percentage of vote's a party
receives as a whole through the notables. Both of these systems are extremely efficient
in that the serve there purpose. 
Just as described in France, Mexico has a bicameral government. The Mexican political
system has a lot in common with that of the United States. Mexico has both central and
local government, which are divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and
judicial. However, in Mexico, the executive branch dominates the other branches to such
an extent that the president effectively controls the country's political system. Given
the dominance of the executive over the legislative and judicial branches, interest
groups and lobbyists have not developed in Mexico. Interests groups who wish to influence
policy do so mostly through the executive branch or seeking contacts with agency heads
and cabinet figures.
The president is elected by direct popular vote every six years and cannot be reelected.
Presidents acquire vast authority because they control all selection of candidates in
their party for elective office at the national level. The executive also can exercise
great influence because many Mexicans have come to expect a strong president and public
elections give the president much power since the people chose him. The president is the
chief policy maker, and the executive branch handles 90 % of Mexico's legislation. The
president chooses members of his cabinet, which results in them being the most
influential members of the executive branch. No president has ever selected a member of
an opposition party as a cabinet official until President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon
took office in December 1994. The cabinet is also divided into smaller groups such as an
economic or national security cabinet, which make policy recommendations to the president
or respond to his policy initiatives.
The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate make up Mexico's bicameral legislative body. There
are 500-members in the Chamber of Deputies that are elected for three-year terms, 300 of
them from single-member districts, and 200 on the basis of proportional representation.
The Senate has 128-members and is elected every six years. Beginning this year, all
members of the Senate will be on the same election cycle. Geographic areas are
represented by half of the senate (64 members), two of which are elected from each state
and the Distrito Federal, and the other 64 members are elected based of the number of
votes received for each party. Unfortunately, even though deputies and senators may be
reelected, they cannot be reelected in consecutive terms. The chamber of deputies has the
power to impose taxes, pass laws, and verify elections. The senate can also ratify
treaties and sometimes approves presidential appointments. Both legislative bodies have
little power, and all bills submitted to the president are approved. This is due most
likely a result of the historical prominence of presidential power. 
Just like the legislative branch, the judiciary has played a very minor role in Mexico's
political process due to the president's vast power. As with the United States the
highest court is the supreme court, which is appointed by the president with the approval
of two-thirds of the Senate. But unlike the U.S., the Supreme Court rarely shapes laws
through judicial precedent. By not having the power to use judicial precedence, the
Mexican supreme court is very limited in it's ability to change or modify the country's
laws, which leaves the court with little influence over important policy matters. The
decisions of the Supreme Court usually follow the policies of the president and the
executive branch. Once again as a result of reforms initiated by President Zedillo to
strengthen the court's powers in 1995, the court can now review newly passed legislation
within a short time period, but only if 1/3 of the members of the national legislature
request such an appraisal.
Since the Mexican government is federal the organization of local government is similar
to that of the United States. Mexico has 31 states and the Distrito Federal. An elected
governor, who serves a six-year term, administers each state. The Distrito Federal was
governed by a presidential appointed cabinet figure until 1997, when residents of the
Distrito Federal were given the power to elect their own representative. Political
parties play somewhat of an important role in Mexican parties. The most dominating party
is that of the PRI, but since the 1960s minority parties have been encouraged by
electoral reforms, which allocated some legislative seats to parties on the basis of
proportional representation. The 3 main parties are the National Action Party (PAN) and
the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). PAN was founded in 1939 and favors rapid
political reform, decreased government spending on social services, and privatizing
state-owned industries. PRD was founded in 1989 and dominates the center left. Like the
PAN, PRD favors rapid political reform, but has less common interest with the PRI. The
PRI has enjoyed unbalanced denomination during a 60-year reign of one-party rule. But the
PAN and PRD have gained 240 seats in the Chamber of Deputies since their creation leading
to increase in power for the minority parties.
As you see Mexico shares the benefits that the US has with a Federal system. The Central
and local government has given Mexicans people a stronger voice in some cases, but
remains silenced buy the dominance of the PRI. This unbalanced Party system is somewhat
discouraging, but since the creation of PAN and PRD and the implements of proportional
representation, the balance has been slowing but effectively began to equal out. As for
the 3 branches of government in Mexico's federal system we see that the executive branch
holds extreme power over both the judicial and legislative branches. Not to say that the
executive branch holds absolute power but it holds absolute power in the sense that it
passively controls all government functions. These unbalanced branches may lead to
problems in the future, but as of now only time will tell. As you see Mexico is a great
example of how a federal can government operates within the ideology of bicameral
legislation.
Both Mexico and France have bicameral systems that work well for their countries. When we
compare the two we see that we cannot come to a valid conclusion on the basis of which
one is better because of the different situations within each country. Mexico enjoys the
benefits of a federal government. The federal government allows Mexico to have both a
central and local government to provide a prosperous country for the people. Yes, the
president enjoys a vast amount of government power when compared to the legislative and
judicial branches, but France shares the same problems within their unitary system. Both
also share the mix of single member districts and proportional representation as the
means of electing public official. If I was to choose the government that I felt was
doing a better job, I would most definitely chose Mexico. Reason being that Mexico has
two levels of governments, which results in the people of the country being better
represented by the local government. Not to say that the government of France is
inefficient, but I feel the representation of the people is very important in any
society. I also must say I do not totally agree with all that the Mexican government
abides by. The extreme governmental power of the president is ludicrous, but no
government is perfect. They can only work towards it. From the government policies that I
have presented and the intense studies that I have done, I conclude that neither the
federal or unitary system have a comparable advantage. Only when the government of a
nation exercises and uses the power vested within that political ideology efficiently,
will one be able to say that a federal system is better then a unitary system. Until each
system is used through absolute efficiency, we have no basis to compare the two unless
each system achieves maximum benefits for the people.