Government (Mexico)
===================


     Long-form name:
         United Mexican States
     Type:
         federal republic operating under a centralized government
     Capital:
         Mexico
     Administrative divisions:
         31 states (estados, singular - estado) and 1 federal district* (distrito
         federal); Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche,
         Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Colima, Distrito Federal*, Durango,
         Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacan, Morelos, Nayarit,
         Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi,
         Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Yucatan, Zacatecas
     Independence:
         16 September 1810 (from Spain)
     Constitution:
         5 February 1917
     Legal system:
         mixture of US constitutional theory and civil law system; judicial review of
         legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
     National holiday:
         Independence Day, 16 September (1810)
     Executive branch:
         president, Cabinet
     Legislative branch:
         bicameral National Congress (Congreso de la Union) consists of an upper
         chamber or Senate (Camara de Senadores) and a lower chamber or Chamber of
         Deputies (Camara de Diputados)
     Judicial branch:
         Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justicia)
     Leaders:
       Chief of State and Head of Government:
         President Carlos SALINAS de Gortari (since 1 December 1988)
     Political parties and leaders:
         (recognized parties) Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Genaro BORREGO
         Estrada; National Action Party (PAN), Luis ALVAREZ; Popular Socialist Party
         (PPS), Indalecio SAYAGO Herrera; Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD),
         Cuauhtemoc CARDENAS Solorzano; Cardenist Front for the National
         Reconstruction Party (PFCRN), Rafael AGUILAR Talamantes; Authentic Party of
         the Mexican Revolution (PARM), Carlos Enrique CANTU Rosas
     Suffrage:
         universal and compulsory (but not enforced) at age 18
     Elections:
       President:
         last held on 6 July 1988 (next to be held September 1994); results - Carlos
         SALINAS de Gortari (PRI) 50.74%, Cuauhtemoc CARDENAS Solorzano (FDN) 31.06%,
         Manuel CLOUTHIER (PAN) 16.81%; other 1.39%; note - several of the smaller
         parties ran a common candidate under a coalition called the National
         Democratic Front (FDN)
       Senate:
         last held on 18 August 1988 (next to be held midyear 1994); results -
         percent of vote by party NA; seats in full Senate - (64 total) number of
         seats by party; PRI 61, PRD 2, PAN 1
       Chamber of Deputies:
         last held on 18 August 1991 (next to be held midyear 1994); results - PRI
         53%, PAN 20%, PFCRN 10%, PPS 6%, PARM 7%, PMS (now part of PRD) 4%; seats -
         (500 total) PRI 320, PAN 89, PRD 41, PFCRN 23, PARM 15, PPS 12