Book Reviews : Political Administration in Mexico. By JULIO A. FERNÁNDEZ. (Boulder: Univer sity of Colorado, Bureau of Governmental Research and Service, 1969. Pp. xii, 80.)
| Date | 01 March 1970 |
| Published date | 01 March 1970 |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591297002300114 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
211
Political
Administration
in
Mexico.
By
JULIO
A.
FERNÁNDEZ.
(Boulder:
Univer-
sity
of
Colorado,
Bureau
of
Governmental
Research
and
Service,
1969.
Pp.
xii,
80.)
This
useful
monograph
by
a
very
competent
young
scholar
in
Latin
American
political
affairs
has
to
do
more
with
the
political
milieu
wherein
administration
occurs
than
with
the
structure
or
processes
of
Mexican
administration
per
se.
From
FernAndez’
thoughtful
study,
one
can
expect
to
absorb
a
rich
body
of
insights
relating
to
the
political
and
social
elements
which
play
roles
on
molding
the
char-
acter
of
Mexican
governmental
administration.
The
thrust
of
the
volume
is
accur-
ately
described
at
the
opening
of
the
concluding
chapter:
&dquo;In
this
monograph,
an
effort
has
been
made
to
point
out
operational
considerations
in
the administration
of
the
Mexican
polity.&dquo;
Using
the
classificatory
system
devised
by
Gabriel
Almond,
Fernández
quite
rightly
describes
the
Mexican
political
system
as
being
of
a
dominant
nonauthori-
tarian
type.
He
underlines
elements
of
social
distress,
faulty
political
experience,
social
alienation,
and
incomplete
educational
development,
as
pointing
to
a
con-
tinuing
process
of
modernization
which
has
yet
to
achieve
all
the
ambitious
goals
of
the
Mexican
political
elite.
An
important
element
in
this
developing
context,
and
one
which
has
increasingly
appeared
in
other
countries
undergoing
the
strains
of
more
or
less
conscious
socioeconomic
evolution,
is
the
overwhelming
political
role
played
by
one
dominant
party
-
in
Mexico,
the
Partido
Revolucionario
Insti-
tucional,
or
PRI.
Presidential
authoritarianism
is
implicit
in
the
Constitution
of
1917,
and
precludes
realization
of
a
genuine
federalism,
a
dynamic
popular
democ-
racy,
or
an
entirely
modern
political
administration
founded
on
merit
and
career
aspirations;
but,
the
successful
monopolization
of
political
power
by
the
PRI
remains
the
major
centerpiece
in
this
quasi-authoritarian,
quasi-democratic
system.
Though
lesser
parties
are
permitted
a
precarious
existence
on
the
Mexican
political
stage,
one
cannot
comprehend
either
the
political
process
or
the
realities
of
adminis-
tration
in
Mexico
without
understanding
the
rather
unique
operational
role
of
the
PRI.
This
means,
of
course,
that
one
must
master
the
internal
structure
and
process
of
the
PRI.
Fernandez
is
not
the
first
scholar
to
say
these
things.
He
does
focus
with
most
perceptive
attention
on
the
key
elements
in
the
context
of
Mexican
politics
and
administration.
His
monograph
is
quite
successful
in
drawing
from
a
very
large
body
of
primary
and
secondary
sources
in
the
field,
and
he
weaves
these
together
deftly
in
the
development
of
his
major
themes.
A
minor
criticism
might
be
that the
author
provides
us
with
seven
introductory
pages
filled
with
unnecessary
bows
to
the
methodological
jargon
of
the
day.
Hap-
pily,
beginning
with
Chapter
II,
the
study
becomes
both
lucid
and
fruitful
of
rich
conceptualization
-
mostly,
because
this
main
body
of
the
book
disregards
or
is
unrelated
to
all
the
constructs,
syndromes,
typologies,
heuristically
valuable
input-
output
models
and
conceptual
schemes
with
which
the
introduction
threatens
to
assault
us.
University
of
Colorado,
Colorado
Springs
JAMES
L.
BUSEY
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