National holiday: Independence Day, 16 September (1810)
Constitution: 5 February 1917
Legal system: mixture of US constitutional theory and civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory (but not
enforced)
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Ernesto ZEDILLO Ponce de Leon (since 1
December 1994); note—the president is both the chief of state and
head of government
head of government: President Ernesto ZEDILLO Ponce de Leon (since 1
December 1994); note—the president is both the chief of state and
head of government
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president with consent of the
Senate
elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term;
election last held 21 August 1994 (next to be held in July or August
2000)
election results: Ernesto ZEDILLO Ponce de Leon elected president;
percent of vote—Ernesto ZEDILLO Ponce de Leon (PRI) 50.18%,
Cuauhtemoc CARDENAS Solorzano (PRD) 17.08%, Diego FERNANDEZ DE
CEVALLOS (PAN) 26.69%, other 6.05%
Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress or Congreso de la
Union consists of the Senate or Camara de Senadores (128 seats; half
are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms, and half are
allocated on the basis of each party's popular vote) and the Chamber
of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (500 seats; 300 members are
directly elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms;
remaining 200 members are allocated on the basis of each party's
popular vote, also for three-year terms)
elections: Senate—last held 6 July 1997 for one-quarter of the
seats; Chamber of Deputies—last held 6 July 1997 (the next
legislative elections will coincide with the presidential election
in July or August 2000)
election results: Senate—percent of vote by party—NA; seats by
party—PRI 77, PAN 33, PRD 16, PVEM 1, PT 1; note—the distribution of
seats as of May 1998 is as follows—PRI 77, PAN 31, PRD 15, PT 1,
independents 4; Chamber of Deputies—percent of vote by party—PRI
39%, PAN 27%, PRD 26%; seats by party—PRI 239, PRD 125, PAN 121,
PVEM 8, PT 7; note—the distribution of seats as of May 1998 is as
follows—PRI 237, PRD 127, PAN 120, PT 7, PVEM 6, independents 3
Judicial branch: Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de
Justicia (judges are appointed by the president with consent of the
Senate)
Political parties and leaders: recognized parties—Institutional
Political pressure groups and leaders: Roman Catholic Church;
Confederation of Mexican Workers or CTM; Confederation of Industrial
Chambers or CONCAMIN; Confederation of National Chambers of Commerce
or CONCANACO; National Peasant Confederation or CNC; Revolutionary
Workers Party or PRT; Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and
Peasants or CROC; Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers or CROM;
Confederation of Employers of the Mexican Republic or COPARMEX;
National Chamber of Transformation Industries or CANACINTRA;
Coordinator for Foreign Trade Business Organizations or COECE;
Federation of Unions Providing Goods and Services or FESEBES;
National Union of Workers or UNT
International organization participation: APEC, BCIE, BIS,
Caricom (observer), CCC, CDB, EBRD, ECLAC, FAO, G-3, G-6, G-11,
G-15, G-19, G-24, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA
(observer), IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat,
Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, NAM (observer),
NEA, OAS, OECD, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO,
UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO