Wendy Lewis
West Virginia University College of Law, Rising 2L
Monday, May 26, 2008
Mexican Politics

University of Guanajuato Professor Fernando Patron gave an informative lecture on the Evolution of the Political Regime in Mexico. He explained to us that during 1997-2007, there was a Democratic Transition Regime in Mexico. This moved the country to a more democratic society where there was more division of power between the three branches and a competitive political party system. Today, there are three strong political parties in Mexico, PRD, PAN, and PRI, competing for political seats. This transition period helped balance the political power amongst these three groups and reduced the control of politics that was held by the PRI for 71 years. Professor Patron explained that during 1929-1997, the balance of power between the three branches was vertical. Most of the power was held by the Executive Branch. Today, the distribution of power has shifted more to the other two branches, which resulted in a horizontal framework with all three branches holding equal power.

Professor Patron did a great job comparing the political system in Mexico to the one in the United States of America. He explained that in Mexico the president of the National Political Party is a very important figure. Whereas in the United States, the president of the National Party does not have a lot of influence and is not well-known amongst the citizens. Another difference is that the Mexican Political System is set-up to ensure that every party has a representative in the Senate. Unfortunately, in the United States if two Republican Senators win a state, the Republican Party will be the only party representing that state in the Senate. If the United States system was similar to Mexico then there would be two Republican Senators and one Democrat Senator representing the state. The Mexican system does a great job to include every party to ensure that everyone has a voice in the Senate. This ensures that the concerns of the democrat citizens of that state are represented in the Senate.

Professor Patron highlighted some similarities between Mexican and American citizens’ sentiments toward their government. Like Americans, most Mexicans feel that their country is not very democratic and distrust political parties and a National Congress. As a result, a little over half of eligible Mexican voters actually vote in the national election. Similar to America, in that only half of eligible American voters actually vote in the national election. There are many things that can explain this lack of interest. I believe a lot of it has to do with citizens’ distrust of the government and a lot of citizens believe the wealthy and the powerful benefit more from democracy.

I enjoyed Professor Patron’s lecture and his teaching style, because it was easy to follow and understand. I liked how Professor Patron incorporated a power-point slide into his lecture. This helped keep the lecture focused on the main topic and made note-taking and comprehending the lecture easier. Also, he welcomed questions during his lecture, which allowed for interaction and discussion between the professor and student. I hope to see more of his teaching style in law school. I believe the Socratic Method paired with a well-organized outline of the lecture on power-point will be a more sufficient way to help students learn and understand the law.