ABSTRACT

Political power and wealth produced in the territory that comprises Mexico was concentrated in very few hands long before Europeans arrived in the continental Americas in the early 16th century. Economic destruction was compounded by political fragmentation and competition among regional leaders. There is a cottage industry of academics who debate why the Mexican Revolution happened, its basic dynamics, trajectory, and its consequences. In Mexico the new political and economic framework that was created was framed by the 1917 Constitution. The post-revolutionary settlement again raised barriers to entry for the average Mexican citizen in both the political and economic sphere. The setbacks suffered by the Mexican state and the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) regime as a consequence of the highly visible episodes of state violence and repression led to a lowering of barriers to entry into the political sphere. In the economic sphere the years 1970 to 1982 saw a significant rise in nationalization of economic activity and state-led growth.