Deck 20: Mexico

Question 1

Mexican elections for the lower house of the legislature use which electoral system?

A)proportional representation
B)single-member district with plurality
C)single transferable vote
D)mixed proportional representation and single-member district

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of the following is true of the power of presidents in Mexico?

A)Their control over the economy has increased during the last decade.
B)Mexican presidents currently have extensive power to appoint and remove judges.
C)Constitutional checks on presidential power have become more effective in recent years.
D)Current presidential candidates are most often selected through a handpicking process by their predecessor.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa were

A)peasant leaders of the Mexican Revolution.
B)indigenous independence leaders.
C)Spanish conquistadores of Mexico.
D)Texans who sought independence from Mexico.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following statements about Mexican political culture is accurate?

A)The first decade of this century brought steadily declining voter turnout with each successive national election.
B)Mexico has consistently had voter turnout below 50 percent in national elections.
C)Mexico has very low levels of participation in politics and political activism.
D)Mexicans on the right of the political system generally express much higher levels of interest in politics than those on the left.

Question 5

The dominant political party in twentieth-century Mexico was the

A)Partido Acción Nacional (PAN).
B)Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI).
C)Partido de la Revolucíon Democrática (PRD).
D)Mexican Green Party (PVEM).

Question 6

A major tool used by the PRI to maintain its decades-long hold on power was

A)patron-client relationships.
B)imprisoning the political opposition.
C)banning opposition parties.
D)suspending elections.

Question 7

Which of the following has resulted from the passage of NAFTA in Mexico?

A)the closing of maquiladoras
B)a weakened agricultural sector
C)a less diversified economy
D)less dependence on the U.S.economy

Question 8

The Bracero Program initially sought to

A)alleviate labor shortages in the United States during World War II.
B)expel undocumented workers from the United States during the 1980s.
C)grant temporary visas to Mexicans residing illegally in the United States.
D)reduce the impact of drug smuggling into the United States by providing military support to the Mexican government.

Question 9

In which of the following ways did the policies of the Calderón administration differ from those of its predecessor,Vicente Fox?

A)Calderón took concrete steps to make government more transparent and less corrupt.
B)Calderón reduced the government's support of free-market policies.
C)Calderón lacked the typical PAN social conservative ideology.
D)Calderón made defeating Mexico's drug cartels a centerpiece of his administration.

Question 10

The conquistadores defeated which indigenous Mexican group?

A)Aztecs
B)Inca
C)Maya
D)Mapuche

Question 11

Which of the following statements about Mexico under the PRI is true?

A)The PRI engaged in regular and public human rights abuses that are still being brought before independent judiciaries.
B)The PRI never resorted to electoral fraud,but it funneled enough state money to its chosen candidates to guarantee a smooth succession of power.
C)The PRI dominated political power in part by expert co-optation of sources of opposition,like the press.
D)The PRI frequently instituted censorship of the press in the name of public security to protect their political operatives.

Question 12

Both the PAN and the PRD are part of the traditional opposition to the PRI.How have PAN policies differed from those of the PRD?

A)The PAN has become less business-friendly than the PRD during the last few decades.
B)The PAN has been less willing to stand against corruption.
C)The PAN has been more secular,advocating a reduction of church power.
D)The PAN has drawn more power at the state level and has been a bigger supporter of states' rights.

Question 13

The PRI was finally voted out of power by which political party?

A)Mexican Green Party (PVEM)
B)Partido Acción Nacional (PAN)
C)Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI)
D)Partido de la Revolucíon Democrática (PRD)

Question 14

In which of the following ways does the Mexican Senate differ from the Chamber of Deputies?

A)Senate members are unable to serve consecutive terms.
B)The Senate has the power to approve treaties.
C)The Senate has a committee system.
D)The Senate can levy taxes.

Question 15

Which of the following statements best describes Mexico's War of Independence?

A)It was dominated by liberals who favored democracy.
B)It was a brief,relatively peaceful affair.
C)It was dominated by conservatives who sought independence from Spain in order to preserve the socioeconomic status quo.
D)It was an indigenous rebellion against the white elite.

Question 16

Mexico's current legislative-executive system is

A)presidential.
B)semi-presidential.
C)parliamentary.
D)authoritarian.

Question 17

The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN)

A)is an indigenous rebel group in Mexico's south.
B)is Mexico's second largest political party.
C)was an uprising of an indigenous group during the Mexican Revolution.
D)was a U.S.expeditionary force during the Mexican-American War.

Question 18

Which of the following resulted from passage of the constitution adopted after the 1917 Mexican Revolution?

A)establishment of Catholicism as a state religion
B)prohibition of foreign ownership of Mexican land
C)nationalization of indigenous land for redistribution to the middle class
D)imposition of term limits for higher executive officers

Question 19

Which of the following statements about the PRI's economic policies for most of its reign is accurate?

A)Liberal-minded PRI presidents sought greater and greater economic independence from the United States.
B)Nationalist PRI presidents tended to favor economic growth over redistribution.
C)It raised tariffs on agricultural imports but lowered them on manufactured goods.
D)It maintained relatively low labor costs that benefited Mexican entrepreneurs.

Question 20

Mexican presidents are elected for

A)up to 2 four-year terms.
B)up to 2 six-year terms.
C)up to 3 six-year terms.
D)a single six-year term.

Question 21

Which factor encouraged PRI leaders to reverse ISI and adopt free-market policies in the 1980s?

A)desire to enact land reform
B)Mexico's serious debt crisis
C)dramatic rise in oil prices
D)declining levels of inequality

Question 22

What are maquiladoras?

A)factories that import materials to make goods for export
B)large state-backed agriculture corporations
C)corrupt politicians
D)indigenous communities in southern Mexico

Question 23

Explain the rise of the PRD in the 1988 elections,including the primary issue leading to its splintering from PRI,its success,and also the factors leading to its decrease in popularity among the Mexican middle class.

Question 24

Why could Mexico under the PRI be described as the "perfect dictatorship"? Was the stability it brought to Mexico worth the restriction of democracy?

Question 25

How has the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)affected the Mexican economy? Who have been its detractors and supporters,and why?

Question 26

How has the Mexican state sought to prosecute the drug war over the last few decades? What is the primary drawback of this method of combating drug trafficking?

Question 27

Which events led to the PRI's base of power weakening? What parties were positioned to compete with the PRI and on what policy platforms did they compete?

Question 28

One of President Felipe Calderón's chief priorities was

A)land reform.
B)combating drug cartels.
C)nationalization of private enterprise.
D)opposition to U.S.foreign policy.