Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

A new consequence of non-reelection in Mexico

When presidents cannot be reelected, as in Mexico, they have tended to fade away once their terms are over (sometimes after stuffing their pockets with available cash). The Washington Post reports that Vicente Fox does not intend to fade away.

What changes in Mexican politics might result if this becomes a trend? If former presidents are around to influence politics during their successors' governments, will things be different?

Mexican Takes Page From Carter, Clinton

"Mexican presidents, by long-standing tradition, not only fade away after leaving office. They go away...

"But Vicente Fox, the former Coca-Cola executive whose election in 2000 ended seven decades of one-party rule, has set out to create the most high-profile former presidency in modern Mexican history...

"Since leaving office in December, Fox has roved across Mexico and the world, giving speeches at motivational seminars run by The Power Within group, raising money, generating headlines and trying mightily to counter the perception that his tenure was a failure...

"Fox has created a foundation to promote democracy and combat poverty. He is also at work on two books...

"But Fox's biggest post-presidency venture is taking shape in San Cristobal, where he is building a democracy center and presidential library -- the first in Mexican history...

"'He's trying to rewrite his time in office, so it won't be remembered as chaotic and a failure,' Juan Pardinas, a Mexico City-based political analyst, said in an interview..."


Labels: ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home