Administrative divisions:
31 states (estados, singular - estado) and 1 federal district*
(distrito federal); Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California
Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Colima,
Distrito Federal*, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco,
Mexico, Michoacan de Ocampo, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca,
Puebla, Queretaro de Arteaga, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi,
Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz-Llave,
Yucatan, Zacatecas
Independence:
16 September 1810 (from Spain)
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 Vicente FOX Quesada (since 1 December
2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of
government
election results: Vicente FOX Quesada elected president; percent of
vote - Vicente FOX Quesada (PAN) 42.52%, Francisco LABASTIDA Ochoa
(PRI) 36.1%, Cuauhtemoc CARDENAS Solorzano (PRD) 16.64%, other 4.74%
elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term;
election last held 2 July 2000 (next to be held 2 July 2006)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president; note - appointment of
attorney general requires consent of the Senate
head of government: President Vicente FOX Quesada (since 1 December
2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of
government
Legislative branch:
bicameral National Congress or Congreso de la Union consists of the
Senate or Camara de Senadores (128 seats; 96 are elected by popular
vote to serve six-year terms, and 32 are allocated on the basis of
each party's popular vote) and the Federal Chamber of Deputies or
Camara Federal 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)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by
party - PRI 60, PAN 46, PRD 16, PVEM 5, unassigned 1; Chamber of
Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRI 222,
PAN 151, PRD 95, PVEM 17, PT 6, CD 5, unassigned 4; note - special
elections were held in December 2003; the PRI and the PRD each won
one seat and were each assigned one additional proportional
representation seat
elections: Senate - last held 2 July 2000 for all of the seats (next
to be held 2 July 2006); Chamber of Deputies - last held 6 July 2003
(next to be held 2 July 2006)
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court of Justice or Suprema Corte de Justicia Nacional
(justices or ministros are appointed by the president with consent
of the Senate)
Political parties and leaders:
Convergence for Democracy or CD [Dante DELGADO Ranauro];
Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI [Roberto MADRAZO Pintado];
Mexican Green Ecological Party or PVEM [Jorge Emilio GONZALEZ
Martinez]; National Action Party or PAN [Luis Felipe BRAVO Mena];
Party of the Democratic Revolution or PRD [Leonel GODOY]; Workers
Party or PT [Alberto ANAYA Gutierrez]