ABSTRACT
Mexico and Cuba stand alone in Latin America as two countries that have experienced significant, profound, and enduring revolutionary changes in their respective social, political, and economic systems. Although there is essentially a consensus as to the revolutionary status of post-1917 Mexico and post-1959 Cuba, there is definitely something short of consensus among observers concerning the particular nature or quality of the process and substance of policymaking in either of the two countries. The revolutionary process itself was essentially a return to the anarchy and regional caudillismo of the time before Diaz, with army fighting army and revolutionary leader assassinating revolutionary leader. In a postrevolutionary, authoritarian political system where the Institutional Revolutionary Party is tantamount to being the political party, it is quite easy to forget that there are other parties that seem to vie for decisional leverage. Consequently, political officials in Mexico depend for their success on "knowing" the right people.
