Executive and Legislative Powers

This chapter provides an overview of the Mexican governmental system. It focuses on presidencialismo, a term that applies both to the previously unbridled and still significant power of the executive branch, and to the personal power of the Mexican President himself. An understanding of presidencialismo is essential to an appreciation of the Mexican approach to the separation of powers. The chapter begins by looking at the constitutional model, the normative skeleton on which Mexican presidencialismo was constructed. It then analyses the legal and political bases of presidencialismo, and the dramatic changes that have occurred in recent years to shift the balance of the executive and legislative power.