The analysis of presidentialism in Mexico: a review of the literature

Abstract

Presidential studies is not a field that has been particularly developed in Mexico. Apart from a relatively large number of legal studies, the presidency and its incumbents have not received the attention one should expect. Little indepth research has been done on the administrative structure of the presidency, of its relations to Congress, of decision making, of its sources of power, the constraints upon it etc. This does not mean that we lack studies dealing with the presidency. Any study of the mexican political system or of the process of government includes an account of the presidency. In doing a review of the literature it is precisely to this type of literature I will refer. I propose to organise this review in terms of the perspectives that have dominated the field from the l~e 50s onwards. This will allow me to present the consensus at certain points in time as well as to stress the differences of interpretation over time. Within each perspective a distinction will be made between the explanatory, normative and predictive propositions that authors bring forward in their analysis. As the paper develops it will become clear that although knowledge on the presidency has advanced, the explanatory propositions remain more or less unaltered while the normative judgements and the guesses about the future have changed dramatically.