Mexican constitutionalism after presidencialismo

Abstract

This article discusses the fundamental changes that have occurred during the past decade in institutions central to Mexico’s constitutional order. The demise of a single-party democracy not only created a new political order; it generated, as well, fundamental changes in Mexican constitutionalism, with formal constitutional and legal reforms playing an important but secondary role in revising Mexico’s constitutional structure. The authoritarian presidencialismo that dominated Mexico’s political culture throughout much of the twentieth century has been replaced by a disempowered presidency and a divided Congress, with a revamped Mexican Supreme Court—long a minor factor in Mexican constitutional politics—assuming a key role in the development of the law. In discussing these changes, the article focuses on three primary areas of the new constitutionalism: separation of powers and the new role of the Mexican Congress; the new role of the Mexican Supreme Court as arbiter between Congress and the presidency; and changes in Mexican federalism. The political instability of multiparty politics in Mexico will place further strains on Mexican constitutionalism in the future and will require careful responses from those institutions—especially the Supreme Court—that oversee the development of law in Mexico. With the election of President Vicente Fox in 2000, Mexico ushered in a new era of constitutionalism. The Mexican Constitution of 1917 is still in force, but the recent, historic election of an opposition presidential candidate has transformed the operation of basic institutions within the constitutional order. The foundation of this new era was laid earlier, beginning with electoral changes in the 1980s and continuing with electoral and judicial reforms in the 1990s. 1 New political realities in Mexico are responsible for Mexico’s new constitutional order, although constitutional and legal reforms have also contributed. By ‘‘new constitutional order,’’ we mean the revised modus operandi of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of government