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Latin American Politics (Course Leiden Uni) Lecture Slides + Summary corresponding Chapters from the Book LA: Politcs and Development 9th Version( Harvey F. Kline) £10.81
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Latin American Politics (Course Leiden Uni) Lecture Slides + Summary corresponding Chapters from the Book LA: Politcs and Development 9th Version( Harvey F. Kline)
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Module
Politics Latin America (5182KP74Y)
Institution
Universiteit Leiden (UL)
Book
Latin American Politics and Development
Latin American Politics (Course Leiden Uni) Lecture Slides + Summary corresponding Chapters from the Book LA: Politcs and Development ( Harvey F. Kline)
Everything required for the midterm exam of LA Politics (5182KP74Y)
Lecture 1: Politics of Latin America
Short introduction and Mexico
Unstable political dynamics exist at the moment. In short a shift to a more leftist political
system is visible in Latin America nowadays.
Colombian president (Petro), and the new Chilean president (Boric) The
referendum of the constitution that has been rejected by the right, which illustrates the
ongoing battles that are present in Latin America (no universal shift to left).
Bolsonaro (right) is an illustration of the still present battle between left and right.
Assignation attempt of the president of Argentina, which is a left president, that
resulted in huge protests.
Shift to the left has been result of an deep-rooted dissatisfaction with the current social order
(status quo).
Mexico is an unique case in LA: it has had a political regime in which parties and candidates
freely compete for office, where the civil and political rights of citizens are guaranteed by
law, and where diversity is not only tolerated but often even promoted and applauded.
Mexico was able to move, in a relatively peaceful way, from a seven-decade
authoritarian regime, controlled by a single political party (PRI), to a competitive
political system with greater respect for political and civil rights.
Colonial important reforms:
Bourbon reforms: Implemented in the late eighteenth century, were particularly
important. Seeking to tighten its control over its colonial territories, the Spanish crown
reorganized most of New Spain into a series of “intendancies,” putting all of them
under the watch of reliable administrators sent directly from Spain.
Mexico:
Current president: Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO).
Elected: 2018.
Central theme: Legitimacy.
o The reason why linked to Obrador: He is verry popular.
I. The post-revolutionary political system (1929-2000)
Unique model of political system that came out of the Mexican revolution (1910-1920)
New constitution, written in 1917, contained many socially progressive measures, but
had not been implemented.
o With the notable exception of sisal and oil production, most economic
activities were disrupted by the ten years of revolution.
o Relations with the US were strained.
The most controversial issue concerned the ownership of oil
companies, since the new constitution had declared oil and other
minerals under the "direct rule" of the state.
o The constitution mandated a strict separation of state and religion, denying any
special status to the church.
, Following the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), Mexico one of the most politically stable
countries in Latin America during the twentieth century. With no dictatorships or military
coups, however there has been a political dominance of one party for almost the entire decade
(PRI)
The institutionalization of the new regime was the main effect after the Mexican Revolution
and the death of high ranked military men. The President Calles, previous revolutionary
leader, declared that Mexico must stop being a country of ‘one man’ and instead become ‘a
nation of institutions and laws.’
In practice, this meant that the many revolutionary factions into a single official political
organization, first known as the National Revolution Revolutionary Party (PNR) and
eventually as the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
1. 1929: National Revolutionary Party (PNR)
2. 1938: Party of the Mexican Revolution (PRM)
3. 1946: Institutional Revolutionary party (PRI)
PRI: Was hardly ideological: almost any political program could subscribe to its often
inflammatory but always inaccurate rhetoric. This unlike "full-fledged" totalitarian parties, the
PRI has never attempted to influence or determine the thoughts and aspirations of its
members.
I.A. Corporatism: Organize society into the political system based on their social identity
(class), organize workers in a labor union that can participate into the political system. For
example portrayed in the term of the President Lázaro Cárdenas (1934-1940 (PRM))
Corporatist structure: Collective identities, sectors and citizenship rights.
o Land redistribution, expansion of public services, improved labor rights.
Political disputes resolved principally within state infrastructure.
Important was that during this period, the support of the masses was huge.
This was created by the Land Reform/ Redistribution system that the Governance of
Cardenas had started.
o National priority under the regime of Cardenas between 1934-1940.
o Most of the distributed lands were of poor quality, the plots were too small,
and the benefited peasants never became their full owners.
The importance to create a feeling of Nationalism:
o Post- revolutionary nationalism was largely defensive: a desire to fend off
foreign intervention, especially from the United States, and a refusal to get
entangled in international confrontations.
o Nationalization of industries:
Twenty years after the promulgation of the 1917 constitution, oil
production continued to be dominated by foreign firms.
, This started to change in 1935, when, with government support, oil
workers created a national union, which two years later declared a
nationwide strike for better wages and other benefits.
o Economic nationalism also took the form of restrictions to foreign trade, with
the use of such conventional tools as tariffs and subsidies ( ISI development
and stabilization policy).
Good Neighbor Policy against the USA.
o Mexico was able to both remain good relation with both the Soviet-Union as
well as the USA.
o Mexico defended Cuban sovereignty in international circles.
o Also as part of this orientation, Mexico was a proud promoter of the Tlatelolco
Treaty, negotiated in 1967, which prohibited nuclear proliferation in Latin
America and the Caribbean.
I.B. Hegemonic Party System: Regular elections & no reelection (president could be in power
for 6 years, but then he had to step back)
Post-revolutionary regime was completely authoritarian, in reality it always claimed to be
democratic.
On paper, the country was a federal republic, with "free and sovereign" states and
autonomous municipalities.
At both the state and federal levels, power was divided among the traditional
executive, legislative and judicial branches.
o In reality, all the power of the system rested with one person: the president.
Through the party, the bureaucracy, the military, and corporatist organizations.
o The president could do as he pleased during his six year term, including
deciding who was to be the next presidential candidate of the PRI, and
therefore in practice hand-picking his successor.
o But after the new president had been anointed, control of the entire political
machinery was transferred to him.
System claimed to be democratic, although the PRI always won.
o The PRI claimed legitimacy because they had integrated the society so well in
the political system therefore the government articulated the voice of the
people verry well.
o Claimed that the existence of the PAN (National Action Party, formed in 1939)
was there to provide resistance against the PRI (although it is a reactionary
minority, controlled by the government)
o Relative freedom of press.
o Often violent repression of independent Left & Unions.
The PRI identified themselves with the left revolution, if there would
be more radical leftists their claim to legitimacy would be undermined.
Although the government was able to repress these movements, often
with the extensive help of the police and the army, social discontent did
not disappear.
On the contrary, it became more radical (student protests 1968)
, o System was institutional: Power belonged to the system, which had its written
and unwritten rules, not to the specific individual it temporarily placed at its
top.
Mix of consent and coercion.
I.C. Output Legitimacy: The Mexican Miracle (1940-1970):
Development policy: Stabilizing development, sustain economic growth that occurred
during this period.
o Economic nationalism, nationalization of key sectors (electricity and mining).
o Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI): Substitute goods that used to be
imported, therefore encouraging the domestic industry to produce the goods
that used to be imported.
o Growing urban middle class.
However, those who lived the poorest (in rural areas) did not get the
same growth as others.
Inequality among the population of Mexico remained a
problem.
Crises of legitimacy: Visible violent repression of dissent.
o The Student Protests (2nd October 1968): In the Tlatelolco section of Mexico
City, the Mexican Armed Forces opened fire on a group of unarmed civilians
in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas who were protesting the upcoming 1968
Summer Olympics.
The Mexican government and media claimed that the Armed Forces
had been provoked by protesters shooting at them, but government
documents made public since 2000 suggest that snipers had been
employed by the government.
Repressive element came visible and obvious.
Coercion was mostly happening in the rural areas; not in sight of the
majority of the people.
o Peso crisis (1982): Debt crisis
After the economic stability for the period of 1950-70, in 1970,
Mexico’s economic policy changed radically when Luis Echeverria
was inaugurated as president.
An enormous fiscal expansion took place and public debt
started to increase.
Neoliberal reforms of debt restructuring were applied, including the
Baker plan and Brady plan initiated by the US.
After years of accumulating external debt, risen world interest
rates, the worldwide recession and sudden devaluations of the
peso caused external debt payments to rise sharply.
The IMF assisted with three financial packages, which were
accompanied by structural reforms.
o Mexico City Earthquake (1985): With the Mexican government shockingly
slow and ineffective in response, ordinary Mexicans organized themselves into
self-help brigades and neighborhood associations.
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