Deck 11: Mexico

Question 1

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

A)The Senate has a committee system.
B)The Senate can levy taxes.
C)Senate members are unable to serve consecutive terms.
D)The Senate has the power to approve treaties.
E)The PRI was never able to fully control the Senate.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

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

Answer 2

A

Question 3

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)The most common stepping-stone to the presidency has been through the legislature.
C)Mexican presidents currently have extensive power to appoint and remove judges.
D)Current presidential candidates are most often selected through a hand-picking process by their predecessor.
E)Constitutional checks on presidential power have become more effective in recent years.

Answer 3

E

Question 4

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

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

Question 5

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

A)a less diversified economy
B)a weakened agricultural sector
C)the closing of maquiladoras
D)fewer Mexican migrants to the United States
E)less dependence on the U.S. economy

Question 6

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

A)Calderón reduced the government's support of free-market policies.
B)Calderón took concrete steps to make government more transparent and less corrupt.
C)Calderón made defeating Mexico's drug cartels a centerpiece of his administration.
D)Calderón lacked the typical PAN social conservative ideology.
E)Calderón brought inflation under control and largely kept it from again spiraling out of control.

Question 7

Mexico's current legislative-executive system is:

A)parliamentary.
B)semi-presidential.
C)presidential.
D)dictatorial.
E)social democratic.

Question 8

The Bracero Program initially sought to:

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

Question 9

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

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

Question 10

Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa were:

A)Spanish conquistadores of Mexico.
B)indigenous independence leaders.
C)peasant leaders of the Mexican Revolution.
D)prominent twentieth-century Mexican conservatives.
E)Texans who sought independence from Mexico.

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)Of the major branches of government, only the judiciary provided a consistent and effective check on PRI power.
C)The PRI never resorted to electoral fraud, but it funneled enough state money into its chosen candidates to guarantee a smooth succession of power.
D)The PRI dominated political power in part by expert co-optation of sources of opposition, like the press.
E)The PRI frequently instituted censorship of the press in the name of public security to protect their political operatives.

Question 12

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

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

Question 13

The conquistadores defeated which Mexican indigenous group?

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

Question 14

Mexican presidents are:

A)elected for up to two four-year terms.
B)elected for unlimited six-year terms.
C)elected for a six-year term with no re-election.
D)elected for a six-year term with one re-election allowed.
E)appointed by their predecessors.

Question 15

For Mexico, what was a drawback of the "Mexican miracle"?

A)reduced manufacturing
B)major dependence on the U.S. economy
C)greater reliance on exports to the south
D)political instability
E)declining oil prices

Question 16

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)a reversal of devolution that returned some power to the central government
E)establishing that higher executive officers could only stand for reelection a single time

Question 17

The dominant political party in twentieth-century Mexico was the:

A)Partido Acción Nacional (PAN).
B)Partido Laborista (PL).
C)Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI).
D)Partido de la Revolucíon Democrática (PRD).
E)Partido Verde (PV).

Question 18

Most Mexicans are:

A)of European descent.
B)Protestant.
C)mestizo.
D)white.
E)Amerindian.

Question 19

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

A)patron-client relationships.
B)murdering its political opponents.
C)imprisoning the political opposition.
D)banning opposition parties.
E)banning elections.

Question 20

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)The PRI maintained a state role in the economy that approached socialist levels of intervention.
D)It raised tariffs on agricultural imports but lowered them on manufactured goods.
E)It maintained relatively low labor costs that benefitted Mexican entrepreneurs.

Question 21

Which factors explain how the PRI's base of power began to erode? Has the reintroduction of genuine political competition into Mexican national politics brought with it genuine improvements in government?

Question 22

The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN):

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

Question 23

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

Question 24

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 very low levels of participation in politics and political activism.
C)Mexico has consistently had voter turnout below 50 percent in national elections.
D)Most Mexicans believe that they have an ability to influence political outcomes.
E)Mexicans on the right of the political system generally express much higher levels of interest in politics than those on the left.

Question 25

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

A)a dramatic rise in oil prices
B)Mexico's serious debt crisis
C)the desire to enact land reform
D)declining levels of inequality
E)a desire to end emigration to the United States

Question 26

What has been the result of constitutional term limits for legislators and the president? Why have so many sought an end to term limits?

Question 27

One of President Felipe Calderón's chief priorities has been:

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

Question 28

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 29

How has the Mexican state sought to prosecute the drug war over the last few decades? Has the policy changed? Should the state never have opposed the cartels so forcefully?

Question 30

Which of the following describes maquiladoras?

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