Monday, February 4, 2008
Comparing
& Contrasting the USA & Mexican Constitutions
By Allan
Wall
February 5th is Mexican Constitution Day,
commemorating the day it was signed – February 5th, 1917.
Nowadays, the official observance is on the first
Monday in February, which in 2008 is February 4th – today! That
means my school is closed today.
Both the Mexican and the U.S. Constitutions are products
of the cultures which produced them and the times in which they were drafted.
The U.S. Constitution was drafted in 1787, with
the Bill of Rights added in 1791. It was a product of the Anglo-American political
tradition, incorporating principles which had been developing in England since medieval times, the political experiences of the colonial
and independence periods in the U.S.,
and other influences the drafters incorporated. It was designed for a republic
with a limited government.
The Mexican Constitution was drafted in the
early 20th century, as a result of the Mexican Revolution. The government
envisaged in the Mexican Constitution is an activist state, dedicated to bringing about social justice among its citizens.
The Mexican Constitution is longer than ours,
for which there are several reasons.
The Mexican Constitution spells out in detail many
legal principles, including the responsibilities of local governments. For example,
it stipulates that the government of a municipio (more or less equivalent to a
county) has to operate a slaughterhouse for livestock.
Mexico has a European civil law system, with the greater
need to spell out legal principles in the Constitution. The U.S. has an English common law system, in which legal principles
are dealt with in judicial precedents.
Legal guarantees in the U.S. Constitution are much
more limited – basically they are the rights to expression (press, religion, speech, and petition), the right to bear
arms, and basic legal rights of the Anglo-American legal system.
The Mexican Constitution stipulates similar rights,
but also guarantees that Mexicans have the right to a good job and decent housing.
However, as subsequent Mexican history has shown,
just decreeing rights doesn’t make them a reality! But since they are in
the Mexican Constitution, the demand for them does exist.
The right to bear arms is part of the U.S. Bill of
Rights, and it is also guaranteed in the Mexican constitution (Article 18). Nevertheless, over the years gun rights have been
severely restricted. Needless to say, this hasn’t prevented criminals from bearing arms, including rocket launchers
and grenades, as recent cartel violence shows so well.
The Mexican Constitution recognizes freedom
of religion, but puts more restrictions on churches and the clergy than does the U.S. Constitution. Until recently, clergymen weren’t allowed to vote and they still cannot run for office.
The Mexican Constitution spells out the rights and
duties of Mexican citizens, and non-Mexicans residing in Mexico. This was a result of the various foreign interventions in
Mexican history. Foreigners are forbidden from getting mixed up in Mexican politics. Article 33 stipulates that foreigners
who violate this principle can be expelled from Mexico,
and this happens from time to time. As a foreigner residing in Mexico myself, I honor this principle and don’t get mixed up in Mexican politics.
Article 25 of the Mexican Constitution designates
the Mexican government as the “rector” of national development. That
means the government is responsible for the economy. Article 26 stipulates that
the government plan the economy. Thus, the more socialist orientation of the
Mexican economy is spelled out in its Constitution.
Article 27 stipulates that all natural resources are
the property of the Mexican nation, and Article 28 forbids monopolies with the exception of government monopolies. This is the constitutional basis of PEMEX, the state oil monopoly.
Mexican agricultural law has its basis in Article
27, which spells out the maximum sizes for farms.
Both constitutions have been amended, though it’s
much easier and faster to do so in Mexico. In the Mexican Constitution, amendments are made by changing the section that is
to be modified. Amendments to the U.S. Constitution are added in a separate section
that follows the original document.
The Mexican Constitution has been amended nearly 500
times since 1917, whereas the U.S. Constitution only has 27 amendments, and 10 of them, called collectively the Bill of Rights,
were added at the same time.
To understand either the U.S. or Mexico, one
must take into account its constitution. Not that either country completely follows its respective constitution, but it’s
the necessary reference point in understanding its political system and a great deal more.
——————————
Allan Wall, a MexiData.info columnist, recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq.
He currently resides in Mexico, where he has lived since 1991. He can be reached via e-mail
at allan39@prodigy.net.mx.
