Structure of the Mexican Government

Structure of the Mexican Government

Mexico has a governmental regime basically democratic; without it being the ideal democracy, it approaches this paradigm more every time (exemplary model).   On the other hand, we have a presidential government system as well as a capitalist ideology.  Although, every country defines its own government with different peculiarities, we will examine the case of Mexico, which according to its Constitution is as follows:

- A Republic:  a governmental system identified by its division of powers (Executive, Legislative and Judicial), and also because its governing body is democratically and periodically elected.

- Representative:  the election of the governing body is performed by common vote; this entails that the citizens are represent by the governing body they elect.

- Democratic:  besides being a representative Republic, the political regime recognizes a Constitution that determines democracy as a life style system as well as the common government.

-  Federal:  it exercises a State system based on the coexistence of the Federation along with those of the Federal Entities that constitute the Republic.  In the Constitutional are established its limits, faculties, and attributions, as well as the principles of their interrelationship.

Based on the foregoing, we understand that we Mexicans are free; therefore, we may decide the government system we want as well as the governing body who will represent us, complying with the organizational system of our country, which separates the government into:

Federal:          a central government.

Local:              state governments.

Municipal:       municipal governments.

Furthermore, given that we are more than 100 million of Mexicans, the Government of our country must be very well organized; for that reason it is separated into three kinds of branches:

-Executive:  it is in charge to enforce the dispositions provided by the laws and, based on those, to carry out the task of governing.

-Legislative:  is in charge to drafting the laws that ruling over the government and the citizens, in order to guarantee the coexistence of the society.

- Judicial: with the task to monitor the laws are properly enforced and to solve any contradiction so common harmony exists.  

These three branches of the Union exist in both federal and local levels, having as one of their objectives, not only to separate the functions of the government, but also to equilibrate the power preventing in that way to endanger the democracy.

The president of the Republic is deemed the leader of the Executive Branch at a federal level, likewise the governors occupy the same position at a state level, and so the municipal presidents at a municipal level.

On the other hand, at a federal level, the Federal Congress (legislators) is the highest authority of the Legislative Branch, and the Nation Supreme Court of Justice (judges) of the Judicial Branch.  The states also have legislators and local judges.

From the three branches aforementioned, the Executive has such significant attributions since it has the responsibility to directly conduct and control the country, while the Legislative Branch is mainly dedicated to produce the laws, and the Judicial Branch to solve any dispute amongst citizens and the governing body, based on the laws and observing the enforcement thereof.

The three branches interact in different government activities.  For example, when the President generates an initiative of law or else makes a petition to the Federal Congress, and it rejects the same, then the Supreme Court of Justice conciliates such and decides which one of the branches has the reason over such dispute.  Nevertheless, it is important to underline that each one of the Branches has its own specific attributions and that their relationship has to be complementary not of reliance.

3.         Federal Public Administration

The Executive Branch, led by the president of Mexico is supported by the Federal Public Administration in order to govern.

Public Administration is a large agency constituted by several smaller entities or government offices assisting in its governmental tasks.  Just like all agencies, the Federal Government allocates specific tasks to different areas or agencies that assist in its work.

For example, there is always a principal at any school although he has different areas under his control to assist him administer the school: there is an area in charge of the sport activities; another area in charge of the cultural activities; one more that is responsible for languages, etc.  With government something similar happens and that is why we find there are different kinds of agencies that work like in the school areas, but in the case of the Executive, such assist the President to govern in an orderly manner.

3.1              Agencies which Constitute Federal Public Administration

Federal Public Administration is divided into Centralized (depending directly on the president of the Nation) and Semi-state (indirectly depending thereof).

1)         Centralized Public Administration, basically constituted by three kinds of agencies:

a)                 Administrative Units: Agencies that are directly used by the Presidency of the Nation to deal with specific matters.

b)                 Secretary of State: offices or agencies dedicated to solve administrative matters in different areas, which are directly used by the President, but through a secretary of the office (named secretary of State).  Each one of the ministries is committed to a specific area; for example, one is committed to education and everything related to schools and teaching; another one is committed to health and everything related to hospitals, physicians, etc.; the other ministries are committed to other kinds of specific matters.

-Decentralized agencies: as the President relies on the ministries, those rely on decentralized agencies to assist them in specific matters and fully depending on those.

c)                  Judicial Council: technical judicial support to the president of the Nation, in respect to any subject requested by him.  It submits for review of the President the execution of projects for initiatives of law and decrees, assisting him on any international deals, amongst other kinds of assistance.

2)         Semi-state Public Administration:  is basically constituted by decentralized agencies with judicial capacity and their own patrimony; although those have autonomy to deal, they generally pertain to a sector in which a ministry of State is the highest authority, thereby in this way, such are indirectly under the president of the Nation.

From these agencies, three are basically mentioned:

a)         Decentralized Agencies:  different agencies which may be institutes, councils, commissions, etcetera.

b)      Entities with prevailing public involvement:  those are the schemes of organization the government uses as direct mean for financial intervention in the country.  They are essentially credit institutions or auxiliary credit institutions.

c)       Trusts:  those are the operation or the conjunction of certain assets destined to the performance of a determined legal purpose, undertaken by a credit institution.

Marine Ministry:

Organizes controls and trains the Army with the intention to monitor our coasts, navigable routes and national islands.

Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources:

Promotes the protection and preservation of ecosystems and natural resources; monitors the compliance of laws, official norms related to natural resources, environment, waters, forests, flora and fauna, etcetera.

Ministry of the Agrarian Reform:

It is in charge of providing people with judicial certainty in respect to the tenure of soil, by the promotion of territorial ordinance and regularization of rural possession, as well as to improve public regulations that promote access to justice as well as a complete agrarian development.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

Assures the application of foreign regulations of our country, meaning, the actions and affairs Mexico has with other countries.  It also intervenes in anything related to international commissions, conventions, conferences and forums related to the Mexican government.

Ministry of Health:

Plans, regulates and controls the attention of medical services, public heath, common assistance and sanitary regulations; it performs hygiene and inspection control over the preparation, possession, use, supply, importation and exportation of foods and beverages.

Ministry of Public Security:

Improves the regulations of public security, in which are included the norms and actions to prevent in an efficient manner any crime.  It also organizes, conducts and controls a service for the attention of victims of crime.

Ministry of Labor and Social Prevention:

Conducts the national service of employment, the Federal Office of Attorney for the Defense of Employee; promotes the employee’s culture and amusement; it orders all measures for security and industrial hygiene for the protection of employee and monitors its performance. 

3.2       Legal Cabinet of the Executive Branch

Furthermore, the Executive Branch has what is called a Legal Cabinet that is made up by secretaries of Estate, Judicial Counseling Office, Private Ministry, some other offices and agencies of the Presidency, as well as the Main Public Office and the General Attorneyship Office of Nation.  It also has a Broaden Cabinet, mainly constituted by agencies such as IMSS and PEMEX, and other centralized and semi-state agencies. 

Following is a detailed description of the Legal Cabinet:

Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fishing and Provisions:

That formulates, directs and evaluates the general policy of rural development, in order to improve the life level of families residing in the field; promotes animal and vegetal sanitary programs and official norms, and it organizes and promotes agricultural and livestock research, establishing laboratories, breeder stations, seeders and greenhouses.

Ministry of Communications and Transportations:

Formulates politics and programs for the development of transportation and communications according to the needs of the country; it regulates and monitors public services such as mailing, telegrams, the administration of the airports, of the railway system, seaports, etcetera.

Ministry of the National Defense:

Organizes, controls, and prepares the Army and the Air Force so that in case of war, the country has a military force ready to defend the national territory.

Ministry of Social Development:

Formulates the general policy of social development for adequate defeat against poverty; assures the adequate allocation, commercialization and supply of the basic consumption products to people with insufficient resources; it executes special programs for the attention of the most unprotected social sectors to improve people’s life level.

Ministry of Tourism:

Formulates and conducts the policy of development of the national tourist activity, promoting those zones with national tourist development.

Private Ministry:

Coordinates the program of those activities of the Executive and assists such with all administrative matters.

Office of the Presidency for Governmental Innovation:

It renovates governmental practices to meet with the forefront global context so that any form of new participative democracy may exist into the structure of good government.

Office of the Presidency for Public Politics:

It analyzes all social claims, and works to identify and define any current or future problems, to select resolutions, to establish goals, to propose strategies and to coordinate their implementation.

General Office of Social Communication:

Directs the information to provide a better communication to all Mexicans through informative means and through different management offices established under this office.

General Office of Public Opinion and Image:

It assists in conducting the information through communication means, focused in monitoring common opinion in respect to the Executive Branch.

Major Presidential State Office:

Assists the president of the Nation with his duties as the Supreme Commander of the Armed Force, also as a technical military agency and administrative unit, to improve the compliance of his attributions and faculties.

Judicial Council Office of the Federal Executive Branch:

It renders legal assistance to the president of the Nation and to other federal entities which request it.  It examines projects for regulations, agreements, appointments, presidential resolutions and other documents of legal nature, in order to propose those for consideration and in its case for, execution by the president of the Nation.

Ministry of Economy:

                 It formulates general policies for industry, foreign and national trade,  supply and prices for the country; it regulates the marketing, distribution and consumption of goods and services, it improves and monitors the norms of quality, necessary measures for commerce activity, organizes symposiums, events, and conventions of industrial and commerce nature. 

Ministry of Public Education:

Creates proper conditions to allow all Mexicans a good quality education, in the level, condition and place they require it, providing education for the complete human development to reinforce cultural, scientific, technological, financial and social basis of our nation.

Ministry of Energy:

Directs the policy of energy for the country; makes studies and research about saving energy, regulates and if required, provides and monitors compliance of any official Mexican norm in respect to nuclear protection, production, exploitation, importation and exportation of radioactive materials.

Ministry of the Public Function:

Coordinates a system of control that evaluates the exercises and actions of our government to promote such acts in an adequate manner all the time.  It monitors any expenditure made by the Federal Government, and also that dependencies and entities of the Federal Public Administration follow any disposition for planning, income, financing, investment, dues, patrimony, funds, values, etcetera.

Ministry of the Interior:

Formulates and conducts the internal policy of our country based on duties of the Executive Branch, monitoring the compliance made under the Constitution, publishing laws in the Official Federal Gazette and promoting common participation to maintain a governance democracy.

Ministry of Treasury and Public Credit:

Calculates incomes of the country considering those needs of the federal public expenditure, controls public debt, programming and coordinating banking system of the country, collects taxes, organizes and controls customs services.

Office of the Attorney General of the Republic:

Represents people and the Federation either in investigation and prosecution of any crime of federal jurisdiction, complying with principles of legality, certainty, and judicial security and in respect to human rights, which guarantee a State of Right.

3.3       Other agencies of the Executive Branch

Attached to the Judicial Cabinet, from the Executive Branch are derived a great amount of agencies which also assist it to perform its governmental tasks.  These kinds of agencies are:

Banks:

Credit institutions work as credit mediators (loan money) to consolidate the available principal and reallocating it in favor of those who need the support of that principal for production.  Within these institutions, the Bank of Mexico has the exclusive faculty in our country to “issue bills and order the minting of metallic coins”.  In other examples of banks of this category we find the National Bank of Foreign Commerce (BANCOMEXT), or the National Bank of Rural Credit (BANRURAL).

Institutions:

Institutions committed to make studies, analysis and specific actions, according to the specialty those are intended to.  For example, the National Institution of Prevention of Disasters (CENAPRED), the Institution of Youth Integration, A.C. (CIJ), or the Institution of Investigation and National Security (CISEN). 

Committees:

The group of persons who collaborate in the performance of certain tasks of political and administrative nature, either permanently or temporarily.  For example, the National Commission of Free Textbooks (CONALITEG), National Banking and Assets (CNBV), or Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).

Councils:

Collegiate agencies constituted by different government representatives, and many of the times by citizen representatives (for example, professors of well-known universities) in charge of representing and controlling an agency committed to the study, analysis and specific actions, under its specialty.  For example, the National Population Council (CONAPO), National Council for Culture and Arts (CONACULTA), or National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT).

Trusts:

The operation or combination of certain assets destined to the performance of a determined legal purpose, undertaken by a credit institution.  For example, the Mining Industry Promotion Trust (FIFOMI), or the Trust Incorporated in Respect to Agriculture (FIRA).

Funds:

All financial means held by the State, acquired by the compliance of tax regime or by the issuance of public dues intended for specific activities.  For example, the Fund of Financial Culture (FCE), or the National Fund to Promote Tourism (FONATUR).

Institutes:

The entities characterized by their scientific, literary or artistic specialty, of teaching or research.  For example, the Institute of Security and Social Services for State Employees (ISSSTE), Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS), or National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Data (INEGI).

General Offices:

Agencies with social service functions in charge of defending a specific purpose.  For example, the Federal Consumer Office (PROFECO).

Consulates:

Office and jurisdiction of the consul of a country.  At the same time, the consul is the diplomatic agent at a foreign city in charge of protecting and defending persons and interests of the represented country.  For example the General Consulate of Mexico at London (England), or the General Consulate of Mexico at Los Angeles (United States of America).

Embassies:

The site where the offices and residence of the Ambassador are located, being the Ambassador the diplomatic agent who serves as the representative of the State that is sending him, and of the head of State.  For example, the Mexican Embassy in Germany, or the Mexican Embassy in Canada.

4.         The president of the Nation

As we have seen, in the Presidential government system which is exercised in Mexico, the foundation of the power of the government is awarded to the President; in this way, our Constitution, which is the maximum document of which its nature is to gather a series of fundamental rules to guarantee social harmony, recognizes the president of the Nation as sole holder of the Federal Executive Branch.  Such must be elected by means of the universal direct vote and under the terms set forth by the Electoral Law.

4.1       Term of presidential position

The president of the Nation will initiate exercising his charge on December 1^st and he will last on a six-year period; upon undertaking such position, he will present to Federal Congress, or to the Permanent Commission (during the adjournment of the first), the following oath:

“I declare under oath to preserve and make the Mexican Politic Constitution prevail and those laws derived from it, and to devotedly and patriotically perform the charge as President of the Nation that the nation has conferred to me, forever observing the good and prosperity of the Union; should I not do it let the Nation demand it from me.” (Article 87, Mexican Politic Constitutional).

Upon termination of his mandate, the citizen who has performed the office as president of the Nation, commonly elected, or under an interim nature, provisional or alternate, shall in no case and for no reason be allowed to undertake such office again.

4.2       Nature of the presidential office

The President, in general terms, as the leader of the Executive Branch is simultaneously our leader of State as well as our leader of the Government, meaning, he is not only the leader of the governing body under the Executive Branch, as the secretaries of State, moreover he is the representative of our government, our territory and our population.

PRESIDENT

As State leader

He meets the functions of representative of foreign policy, therefore the following depend on him:

-    Embassies and consulates.

-    International treaties.

-    National Army (he is the Supreme leader of the Armed Forces of our country, having the capability to declare war in the name of Mexico).

As Government leader

Appoints and freely discharges, always according to Law:

-       Secretaries of State.

-       Consuls and diplomats.

-       Officers of the Militia, the Army and Air Force, etcetera.

With the assistance of his officers: implements public policies, protecting allotment of the budget of the country to generate governmental actions that derive in the common welfare of Mexico.

4.3       Requisites to be President    

- To be a Mexican national by birth, in full use of his/her rights, son/daughter of Mexican parents, and have resided in the country for at least during twenty years.

- To be at least 35 years old at the time of the election.

- To have resided in the country during one year prior to the date of the election (absence from the country up to thirty days, does not interrupt residency).

- To neither belong to any ecclesiastic state, nor to be minister of any cult.

- Not to be actively serving, six months prior election date in case of pertaining to the Army.

- Not to be secretary or under-secretary of the State, leader or general secretary of any administrative office, general attorney of the Nation, neither governor of any state (unless he leaves such office six months before the date of the election).

(Article 82, Mexican Politic Constitution).