Elites Studies, The Case of the Mexican Presidency

7/24/2019 Elites Studies, The Case of the Mexican Presidency

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2/24

J.

Lat.

Amer. Stud.

5, 2,

247-269

Printed in Great

Britain

Elite Studies : the Case of the

Mexican

Presidency

by

JOHN

G. CONKLIN

Introduction:

Elite Studies of Latin America

Many

studies

of

Latin

American

elites are

compilations

of

biographical

sketches.l

These

increase

understanding

of

various

personalities,

but

tend

to

be

unsystematic

and unrelated.

Frequently,

no

attempt

is

made

to draw the

data

together

into

meaningful

generalizations

about

elite

background,

recruit-

ment,

behavior,

and

the

like.

Many

other studies that take

a

group

approach

also

concern

elites but often

this is not

explicitly

recognized

by

the

author.

Much

of

the

literature

on

the

Latin

American

military

falls into this

category.2

Merle

Kling

has

written a

study

of

a

particular

elite

group.3

He

examined

the

origin,

membership, leadership,

objectives,

and

political

influence of a con-

servative

Mexican business

group.

In

i967,

a

study

of

group

elites

edited

by

Lipset

and Solari

was

published.4

This

book

includes

chapters

on business

elites,

political

leaders,

military

leaders,

religious

elites,

cultural

elites,

labor

and

peasant

leaders,

and

student

and

education

elites.

In

some of

the

selections,

particularly

those

concerning military

and

educational

leaders,

the authors

employ quantitative

methods.

In

addition

to

the work edited

by Lipset

and

Solari,

there

are

perhaps

seven

or

eight explicitly

elite

analyses concerning

Latin

America.

There

are short

social

background

articles of

governmental

elites in

Argentina,

Peru,

and

Mexico.5 In

the

Peruvian and

Mexican

cases,

the

authors

found

that

educated

1

For

examples,

see

Robert

J.

Alexander,

Prophets

of

the

Revolution

(New

York,

Macmillan,

i962),

and Harold E.

Davis,

Makers

of

Democracy

in

Latin

America

(New

York,

H.

W.

Wilson

Co.,

I945).

2

For

example,

John J. Johnson,

The

Military

and

Society

in

Latin

America

(Stanford,

Stanford

University

Press,

I964).

3

Merle

Kling,

A

Mexican

Interest

Group

n

Action

(Englewood

Cliffs,

Prentice-Hall,

196I).

4

Seymour

Martin

Lipset

and Aldo

Solari

(eds.),

Elites in

Latin

America

(New

York,

Oxford

University

Press,

I967).

5

Kalman

Silvert,

'

Political

Leadership

and

Institutional

Weakness

in

Argentina

',

in

The

Conflict

Society

(New

York,

American

Universities Field

Staff,

i966);

Arnold

Payne,

'

Peru:

Latin

America's Silent

Revolution

',

Inter-American

Economic

Affairs,

xx

(Winter

I966),

pp.

69-78;

James

D.

Cochrane,

'Mexico's New

Cientificos :

the

Diaz

Ordaz

Cabinet',

Current

History,

xxI

(Summer

I967),

pp.

6I-72.

247

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248

John

G.

Conklin

middle

class

individuals

were

now

occupying

high

government

positions.

Silvert's

positional

analysis

of

the

Per6n

era

showed

that

no dramatic

turn-

over had occurred,and he concluded from this that Peronism was not a

truly

revolutionaryphenomenon.

Jamaican

Leaders

by

Wendell Bell

is

undoubtedly

one

of

the

outstanding

studies of

elites in

a

single

Latin

American

country.6

While

the

focus is

on social

backgrounds

and

attitudes,

Bell

places

his

findings

within

the

context

of

Jamaican

politics.

His

familiarity

with

the

Jamaican

system,

combined with

the

quantitative

methods,

results

in

a

balanced,

infor-

mative

book

which is

methodologically

explicit.

Daniel

Goldrich,

in

his

study

of

Panamanian

and Costa Rican

elite

youth,

surveys

the

attitudes of

16

to

i8

year

olds

towards their

respective

systems.7

His

study

is

particularly

interest-

ing

because

he

polled

each

country

twice at

two-year

intervals.8

Goldrich used

quantitative

methods,

but

his

sampling

and

administering procedures

were

very

different

from

those

employed

by

Bell.9

He selected

his

sample

simply

by

going

to

educational

institutions attended

by

the sons of

elites.

Surveys

were

administered

directly

in controlled

situations

and the

response

was

over

go

per

cent. On

the

whole,

Goldrich

exercised

greater

care

in

accumulating

his

data.

The

Venezuelan

project

directed

by

Frank Bonilla

is

a

benchmark in the

study of national elites. In Volume II of Politics of Change in Venezuela,

Bonilla

notes:

To

our

best

knowledge

the VENELITE

research has

managed

to collect

more

informationabout

more of

.the

very

top people

in

an

actively operative

national

power

system

han

has

ever

been

obtained

before.10

The

VENELITE

team

used

the

positional,

reputational,

and

decision-partici-

pation

methods in

selecting

their

sample.

They

categorized

elites into three

groups-economic,

political,

and

cultural.

The

interview

data were

organ-

ized

along

five

lines-social

characteristics,

biography-career

ines,

power-role

activities,

personal qualities,

and socio-metricdata.

The

purpose

of the

study

was

to

inquire

into 'the

potential

capacity

of

leadership

to

help bring

about

the

new

Venezuela

prefigured

in

their

state-

6

Wendell

Bell,

Jamaican

Leaders:

Political

Attitudes

in

a

New

Nation

(Berkeley,

Univ.

of

California

Press,

1964).

Two

other

works

on

West Indian

leaders are Charles

Moskos,

The

Sociology

of

Political

Independence

(Cambridge,

Mass., Schenkmann,

I967),

and

Ivar

Oxaal,

Black

Intellectuals

Come

to

Power

:

The Rise

of

Creole

Nationalism

in Trinidad

and

Tobago

(Cambridge,

Mass.,

Schenkmann,

1968).

7

Daniel

Goldrich,

Sons

of

the

Establishment:

Elite Youth

in Panama

and Costa

Rica

(Chicago,

Rand

McNally

&

Co.,

1966).

8

Since

Goldrich

wrote his

book

the

survey

has

again

been

repeated

in Panama:

Douglas

A.

Brown,

The

Political

Orientations

of

Panamanian

Students: A

Republication (unpublished

thesis,

Chapel

Hill,

Univ.

of

North

Carolina,

i967).

9

For Bell's

sampling

and

administering

techniques,

see

pp.

7

and

8

of

Jamaican

Leaders.

l0

Frank

Bonilla,

The Failure

of

Elites

(Cambridge,

Mass.,

MIT

Press,

1970),

p.

14.



4/24

Elite

Studies:

the Case

of

the

Mexican

Presidency

249

ments to

us

and

in

key

documents such

as

national

plans

'.

The

title

of

the

project's

second

volume,

The Failure

of

Elites,

indicates

the

basic

finding

of

the VENELITEesearchgroup.

From the

point

of view of the

social

sciences,

this

project

has

larger

method-

ological

implications.

It

applies

'

scientific'

research

techniques

to

socially

and

politically

volatile

questions.

Moreover,

the current Venezuelan

elite,

whose

responses

made the

study

possible,

can

hardly

view the

project's

conclusion

as

'friendly'.

Indeed,

Bonilla writes

that

the domestic elite

within the

'

national

armies,

national

parties,

national

bourgeoisies

all have fallen

short

of

the

immediate

challenge

'.1

Only

the

cultural

elite,

led

by

the

university

community,

seems

to understand

adequately

the

programs

needed for

the

long-

term

development

of Venezuela. Whatever the merits of this conclusion, it

can

be

read

as

a call

for

revolutionary

upheaval.

Where

social

scientists

are,

even

implicitly,

prescribing

such courses

of

action,

the

validity

and

reliability

of

their

methodology

is of crucial

importance.

In other

words,

this book

directly

raises

the

question

of whether

we

are

engaged

in

political

science

or

political

philosophy

and whether

or

not

one can

be divorced from

the other.

Latin

American

Elites

:

the

Chief

Executive

Two key features of Latin American politics are executive predominance

and

military

intervention.l3

While

the

literature

on Latin

America

is,

rela-

tively

speaking,

full of information

on

the

military,

almost

nothing

is

to

be

found

concerning

the

presidency.

Hence,

one

of the

two

most

important

elite

structures

remains

practically

ignored.

Rosendo G6mez's article is

one of

the

few

studies

dealing

specifically

with the

Latin American

presidency.14

How-

ever,

this

article

was written

largely

to

outline a

classificatory

system.

Data

were

not

systematicallygathered

and

they

were

used

to

illustrateeach

classifica-

tion

rather than

to test

or

generate

hypotheses.

There

are

some studies of

the

executive of various countries. Leo Lott's essay is a good traditional descrip-

tion

and

analysis

of

the

formal

and informal

powers

of

the

Venezuelan

presi-

dency.l5

The

power

of the

Peruvian

presidency

is

treated in

a

cursory

article

by

Martin

Needler.l6

Other studies of the

Latin American

presidencies

are in

textbooks.

Alexander

Edelmann's text

has one

of the better

treatments of

the

11

Ibid.,

p.

62.

12

Ibid.,

p.

322.

13

Martin C.

Needler,

'Political

Development

and

Military

Intervention in Latin

America',

American Political

Science

Review,

ix

(September

1966),

p.

6I6.

14

Rosendo

Gomez,

'

Latin American

Executives:

Essence

and

Variations

',

Journal

of

Inter-

AmericanStudies,

III

(JuneI96I), pp. 81-96.

15

Leo

Lott,

'

Executive

Power in

Venezuela

',

American

Political

Science

Review,

i

(June

1956),

pp.

422-4I.

16

Martin

Needler,

'Cabinet

Responsibility

in

a Presidential

System:

The

Case

of Peru

'

Parliamentary

Affairs,

xviii

(Spring,

1965), pp.

I56-6I.



5/24


6/24

Elite

Studies:

the

Case

of

the Mexican

Presidency

251

TABLE

I

Presidents

of

Mexico

21

May, 1822,

to

I

December, 1970

President

Agustfn

de Iturbide

Guadalupe

Victoria

Vicente

Guerrero

Jose

Marfa

Bocanegra

Pedro Velez

Anastasio

Bustamante

Melchor

Muzquiz

Manuel

G6mez

Pedraza

Valentin G6mez

Farfas

L6pez

de

Santa Anna

Miguel

Barragan

Jose Justo

Corro

Nicolas Bravo

Francisco

Javier

Echeverrfa

Valentfn Canalizo

Jose

Joaqufn

de

Herrera

Mariano Paredes

y

Arrillaga

Jose

Mariano Salas

Pedro

Marfa

Anaya

Manuel

de

la

Pena

y

Pena

Mariano

Arista

Juan

Bautista Ceballos

Manuel

Maria Lombardini

Martin

Carrera

R6mulo

Diaz

de

la

Vega

Juan

Alvarez

Ignacio Comonfort

Fdlix

Zuloaga

Manuel

Robles Pezuela

Miguel

Miramo6n

Jose

Ignacio

Pav6n

Sebastian

Lerdo de

Tejada

Jose

Marla

Iglesias

Benito

Juarez

Porfirio

Diaz

Juan

N. Mendez

Manuel Gonzales

Francisco

Le6n de

la Barra

Francisco I. Madero

Pedro Lascurafn

Victoriano

Huerta

Elite

Type

Time

Means

Age

Occupation

in

Office

to

Office

Yrs

Mths

Days

34

f

m

9-28

v

38

f

m/i

4-

6-io

e

45

f

m/i

8-

7

42

P g/l 5

P

42

P

g/l

8

p

49

f

m/i/p

6-10-2I

e/i/p

42

f

m/i

4-I2

p

42

f m

4-

7

v

52

P

g/p

9-

7

p/e

38

f m

5-

9- 4 v/i

45

f

m/i

I-

1-12

i

51

f

1

i-i6

p

52

f

m/i

4-22

p

44

f

g/b

i8

p

49

f

mn

Io-II

p

56

f m

3-

8-14

p/e

48

f

m 7- i v

49

ff m

4-17

v

52

f

m

3-

3

P

58

p

g/l

6-28

p

48

f

m

I--I--9

e

41

p g/l

I-

2

p

60

f

m/i

2-I3

p

58

f

m

28

p

54

f

m

21 p

65

f

m/i

2-

6

v

43 f 1/m 2- I- 9

v

54

f

m

11-19

p/v

41

f

m

28

p

26

f

mrn

-10-IO-II

v

69

p

g/l

2

p

49

p

g/l/e

4-

3-10

p/e

53

P

g/l/j

2-19

p

51

p

g/1

I4-

5-2I

p/e/v/i

46

f m

26-

5-25

v/e/i

52

f

mn

2-II

p

47

f m

4

i

47

P

g

5-II

p

38

f

h

I-

3-12

v

54

f

1/e

I

p

67

f

m

I-

4-28

v



7/24


8/24

Elite Studies:

the Case

of

the

Mexican

Presidency

253

Occupationally,

24

presidents

have been

civilians,

I8

professional

soldiers,

and

I6

military insurgents.22

By dividing

Mexican

history

into three

periods:

the era of Santa Anna (1822-55), the

period

of Juarezand Dfaz

(I855-1910),

and

the

Revolutionary

era

(190o-70),

and

correlating

occupation,

one

finds

TABLE

2

Presidential

Occupations

n

Three Historical

Periods

(Mexico)

Occupations

y

Numberand

Percentage

Era

m

m/i

c

Santa

Anna

9 39%'

7

30.5%

7

30.5%

Juarez/Diaz 8 58% I 7.0% 5 35.0%

Revolutionary

I

5%

8

38.o?%

12

57.0%

Totals

i8

31%

i6

27.0%

24 42.0%

that

all

three

occupational

categories

were about

equally

represented

during

the

initial

period, professional

soldiers

and civilians

(930%)

dominated the

Juarez/Diaz

epoch,

while

military insurgents

and

civilian

(95%)

dominated

the

third

era.

When

the

same factors

(occupation

and

numbers of

presidents)

are correlated with tenure, an interesting pattern emerges.23 Taking the

civilians in

each

historical

unit,

it

is

seen that

although

30.5%

of

the

presidents

during

the

Santa

Anna

period

were

civilians

they

all served

less

than

one

year.

During

the

Juarez//Daz

era

civilians came

to

power

35%

of

the

time,

but

more

significantly,

they

began

to serve

for

more

prolonged

periods.

Finally,

during

the

Revolutionary

era civilians became

the

predominant

group

both

numerically (57%)

and

with

regard

to

tenure.

If

one

assumes

a

positive

relationship

between

office,

tenure and the

actual

exercise of

power,

the

pattern

is

clear. The

history

of the

Mexican

Presidency

has been one of

growing

civilian control of the

position

itself and, hence, of

the

political system.

Given

their

short durations

in

office,

civilians

during

the

Santa

Anna

era

might

well be

considered

puppets

for various

professional

and

insurgent generals.

Political

power,

then,

rested

primarily upon

coercive

instruments. In

the

Juarez/Diaz

period

civilians were

able to exercise

power

and

control for

the

first time. This

suggests

an

increasingly

sophisticated

system

in

that

crude

force

was

no

longer

the sole

requisite

for the effective

22

See

Table

2.

In all of the

tables the letter c will be used

to refer to

civilian,

m to

denote

professional soldier, and m/i to indicate military insurgent. Military insurgent refers to

individuals who

began

their

career as

guerrilla

soldiers or with

irregular

forces rather than

with the

standing army.

Of

course,

irregular

forces were

usually

formed

to

fight

against

the

regular

army.

23

See

Table

3.



9/24

254

John

G.

Conklin

exercise of

presidential power.

In

the final

era,

for

the

first time in

Mexico's

history

there

were

more

civilian than soldier

presidents.

Moreover,

the

tenure

pattern begun during the Juarez/Diaz period became more pronounced as

31%

of

the

presidents

were

civilians

serving

more

than a

single year. (Com-

parable

figures

for

the

first and

second

historical

periods

were

9%

and

2I%

respectively.)

TABLE

3

Presidential

Occupations

and Tenure

(Mexico)

Number

and

Percentage

Less than I to

22

Over

2

Era

*

I Year

Years Years

Santa Anna

m

6

26%

I

4%

2

9%

m/i

4

17%

I

4%

2

9%

c

7

31%

Juarez/Diaz

m

5

37%

I

7%

2

I4%

m/i

I

7%

c

2

14%

I

7%

2

14%

Revolutionary

m I

50

m/i

2

9%

I

5%

5 24%

c

5 24%

2

9%

5

24%

*

Each of

the three

eras

is

treatedas an individual

analytical

unit.

Within

the

civilian

groups

the

majority

of the

Mexican

presidents

have

been

government

officials/public

men,

and/or

lawyers.

3I%

of all Mexican

executives were

governmental

or

public

men and

27%

lawyers.

Among

them

have been a sprinkling of physicians,businessmen,educators,journalists,and

hacendados.

The

occupations

of the Chilean executives are

considerably

different

from

those of

the Mexicans. At least

go%

of the Chilean

presidents

had

extensive

office-holding public

careers

prior

to

achieving

the

presidency,

and

47%

were

lawyers.

However,

the most

significant

difference

between the

occupational

experiences

of the

Mexican and Chilean

presidents

concerns the

incidence

of

military

executives.

In

Mexico,

a

majority

of the

presidents

(58%)

have been

either

professional

or

insurgent

soldiers

whereas

only

20%

of

the

Chilean

executives fall into thesecategories.

These

occupational

differences

in recruitment

patterns

undoubtedly

reflect

the

different

political

traditions of

Mexico and Chile. Chile

has

been

notable

for

its adherence

to the formal

aspects

of

constitutionalism and

particularly



10/24


11/24

256

John

G.

Conklin

have

proportionately

fewer

presidents

than

their

populations

would indicate.

The

North,

on

the

other

hand,

is

'over-represented'

having

produced

more

than twice as

many

chief executives as its numbers would 'warrant'.

Table

5

categorizes

presidential

hometowns

by

size.

Cities with

popula-

tions

of

Io,ooo

to

50,000

have

been

the most

productive,

followed

by

towns of

2,500

to

I0,000,

and

the

large

cities

with

populations

of over

50,000.

The

thousands of

villages

and

hamlets

throughout

Mexico have

produced

propor-

tionately

few

presidents.26

TABLE

5

President's

Birthplace by

Size

(Mexico)

Percentage

of

Number

of

Percentage

Population

in

Population

Presidents

of

Presidents

Cities

*

Up

to

2,500

8

14

65

2,500

to

I0,000

I5

26

13

10,000

to

50,000

20

34

8

Over

50,000

15

26

14

*

Percentage

of

cities,

nation is for

I940.

Source for this

column,

Howard

Cline,

The

U.S.

and

Mexico,

p.

436.

This

might

be

explained by

the

differing optimal

levels

of 'life chances'

found in

the

villages,

towns,

and

cities

of

Mexico.

Historically,

the

villages

(up

to

2,500

population)

contained

peasant

populations

and had

very

little

wealth and

almost

no

education

facilities.

For

the

most

part,

village

popula-

tions

have

been

apolitical

and

the few

existing

religious-governmental

offices

have been

filled

by

the

members

of

a

few families

who

undertook these offices

as

a matter of

tradition,

status,

and

duty.

Towns

(2,500

to

Io,ooo),

small

cities

(Io,ooo

to

5o,ooo),

and

cities

(over 50,000) possess greater

wealth and

offer

more in the

way

of educational

opportunities.

Assuming

that

most

political

activism

usually requires

a

minimum

material

and/or

educational

level,

cities,

and even

towns,

are

more

likely

to

provide

them than

are

villages.

The

fecundity

of the

small

city

is

particularly

striking

in Mexican

recruit-

ment

patterns.

In

I940,

there

were

eighty-four

cities

of

this

size with

eight

per

cent

of the

population.27

Yet,

they produced

thirty-six per

cent

of Mexico's

presidents.

This

contrasts

with

the

Chilean case where

most of the

presidents

26

See

Table

5

for

the

percentage

of

the total

population represented

by

each

category.

It

is

interesting

to

compare

this

finding

with that of Donald Matthewsin U.S. Senatorsand Their

World

(New

York,

Random

House,

I960).

He found

the

small and

medium

sized

town

(2,500

to

50,000)

to be

consistently

over-represented

as a senatorial birth

place.

Rural and

metropolitan

areas

were

under-represented, p.

I4-I7.

27

Cline,

The U.S. and

Mexico,

p.

436.



12/24


13/24

258

John

G. Conklin

refers to

any

situation

in

which

a

presidential

candidate

uses armed

force

directly

to

achieve

office. This

can take

many

forms,

from

a

bloodless

golpe

to a violent revolution. One can discern violencia by locating evidence of an

armed

action

undertaken to

achieve

immediate

power.

As used here an

election means

a

contest between two

or more

candidates.

For

a

contest

to

exist

more

than

one

candidate must

have

a

'reasonable chance' of

winning.

occupation

m

m/i

c

violencia

9

2

5

number

of

imposicioon

3

9

6

election

3

2

3

Imposiciones

are all

power

turnovers that

fall between violencia

and elections.

Normally

these are

election charades

in which there

is

a

single

candidate

or

only

one

candidate

with

a

chance

for

victory.

Tables

7,

8,

and

9

list

the

presidents

according

to

means to

power. Occupation

and means

to

power

are

outlined below.29

TABLE

7

Presidents

Achieving

Power

by

Way

of

Golpe

(Mexico)

President Age Area

*

Size t Occupation

Iturbide

34

I

C

m

Guerrero

45

2 B

m/i

G6mez Pedraza

42

I

C

m

Santa

Anna

38

I C

m

Paredes

y

Arrillaga

48

I

D

m

Salas

49

I

D

m

Alvarez

65

2 A

m/i

Comonfort

43

I

D

c

Zuloaga

54

4

B

m

Miram6n 26 i D m

Juarez

51

2 A

c

Diaz

46

2 C

m

Madero

38

4

B

c

Huerta

67

3

B

m

Carranza

54 4

A

c

de

la

Huerta

39

4

C c

*

the

numerical

symbols

I

=

Core

2

=

South

t

the letter

symbols

refer

B

=2,500

to

IO,000

A

=

to

2,500

refer

to:

3

=

West

4

=

North

to:

C-=IO,000

to

50,000

D=over

50,000

29

A

similar

analysis

of modes of

attaining

power

and

executive

age

indicates

that

no

relation-

ship

exists.

The same is true

of means for

achieving

power

and

area and size of

birthplace.



14/24

Elite

Studies:

the

Case

of

the

Mexican

Presidency

259

TABLE 8

Presidents

Achieving

Power

by

Way

of

Imposicion (Mexico)

President

Age

Area

Size

Occupation

Bustamante

49

I

B

m/i

Santa Anna

38

I

C

m

Barragan

45

I

B

m/i

Juarez

51

2

A

c

Diaz

46

2

C

m

Gonzales

47

4

B

m

Gutierrez

34

4

A

m/i

Gonzalez

Garza

29 4

C

m/i

Lagos Chazaro 26 I B c

Obregon

40

4

A

m/i

Calles

47

4

B

m/i

Ortiz

Rubio

53

I

C

m/i

Cardenas

40

I B

m/i

Camacho

43

I

C

m/i

Aleman

44

I

B

c

Ruiz

Cortines

60 I

C

c

L6pez

Mateos

48 I

D

c

Dfaz

Ordaz

53

I

B

c

TABLE

9

Presidents

Achieving

Power

by

Way

of

Election

(Mexico)

President

Age

Area

Size

Occupation

Victoria

38

I

A

m/i

Bustamante

49

I

B

m/i

G6mez

Farias

52

3

D

c

Herrera

56

I

C

m

Arista

48

I

D

m

Lerdo 49 I C c

Juarez

51

2 A

c

Diaz

46

2

C

m

In

the

history

of

Mexico,

I6

presidents

have used

violencias

to

gain

the

executive

office,

i8

have used

imposiciones,

and

8

have

come

to

power

through

elections.

Surprisingly,

civilians who

are

often

associated with

the

electoral

process

have

not used

election

any

more

than

have

military

men.

The

most

significant

finding

here is

the

marked

difference in

the

behavior

of

profes-

sional soldiers and military insurgents. By and large, professionals have

relied

upon

violencia to

attain

power (60%)

while

insurgents

have

used

the

imposici6n

most

of

the

time

(69%).

This

may

be

explained

by

the

democratic

ideology

that

often

pervades

insurgent

movements.

Having justified

rebellion



15/24

260

John

G.

Conklin

with

democratic

slogans,

the

insurgent

can

hardly

be blatant

in

replacing

an

authoritarian

government

with one

of

his own.

Hence,

the use

of civilian

provisionalpresidentsuntil an 'election' can be held. We can only speculate,

but it

does not seem

unreasonable o

suggest

that

insurgents

are

more sensitive

to the

art

of mass

manipulation

and the

use of

symbols

than are

professional

soldiers.

Another factor

is the

powerful

position

of individual

civilians

in

insurgent

movements.

Juarez,

Madero,

and Carranza were the

acknowledged

leaders

of

insurgencies

and

with

victory they naturally

assumed

the

presi-

dency.

Soldiers

came

to

power

only

after

these leaders

died.

Table

IO

summarizes the extent to

which

violencias,

imposiciones,

and

elections were

utilized

by

executives

in

three historical time

periods.

This

Table indicates that

during

the

Santa

Anna

period

violencias and

elections

were

the

primary

routes

to

office.

During

the

Juarez/Diaz

time,

the

incidence

of

all three

modes

remained

about constant

although

the

percentage

of

imposi-

ciones

and

violencias

increased

slightly

and elections

declined

somewhat.

In

the

Revolutionary

era the

use of

violencia

declined

markedly

and

elections

disappeared

completely,

and

imposiciones

emerged

as

the

primary

means for

transferring

the executive

office.

Indeed,

we know

that all

violent

turnovers

occurred

early

in

the

Revolutionary period

(I9IO

to

I920),

so

that

the

imposicion has clearlybecome institutionalized.

TABLE IO

Modes

of

Attaining

Office

by

Historical

Period

(Mexico)

Numberand

Percentage

f

Era

Violencias

Imposiciones

Elections

Santa

Anna 6

43%

3

21%

5

36%

Juarez/Diaz

6

50%

3 25%/

3

25%

Revolutionary 4 25%

12

75%

o

Totals

i6

38%

I8

43%

8

Ig%

Mexican

Development

:

An

Elite

Analysis

One

way

of

differentiating

between

elites

is to consider them

as

being

either

multi-functional

or

political/governmental.30

Political/governmental

elites

are

professional

politicians

and

government

workers. Multi-functional

elites

cross

back

and

forth between

various

elite roles.

Two

variables,

career

span

and

career

crossover,

are

used to differentiate

between elite

types.

Political/

30

This

distinction

is

based

largely

upon

Robert

Scott,

'

Political

Elites

and

Political

Moderniza-

tion:

the Crisis

of

Transition

',

Lipser

and

Solari

(eds.),

Elites in Latin

America,

pp.

I20-I.

Scott

distinguishes

between functional

and

political

elites.

Here the terms are

changed

so

that

they

relate

more

directly

to the distinction

being

made.



16/24

Elite

Studies: the Case

of

the

Mexican

Presidency

261

governmental

elites include

anyone

with

15

years

of

political/governmental

experience.

However,

those

individuals

who cross over

between

elite roles

during

the

i5

years

period

are consideredmulti-functionalelites. A

non-politi-

cal/governmental

occupation

is

not taken as

evidence of crossover. Valentin

G6mez

Farias,

for

instance,

was a

physician

and

at

one

time

he

practiced

medicine.

However,

his

medical

career was

obviously

peripheral

to

his

political

career.

Throughout

his

adult life

he was the

acknowledged

leader

of the

Liberal

Party

and for

30

years

he

served in various

government

posts.

Any

president

with

a

non-political

occupation

but with a

career such as this

is

considered

a

political

elite.

The

easiest


elite to

iden-

tify

is

the individual who

has

spent

his

life in

politics

and

government

and

who

has

no

social or

economic resources.

Benito

Juarez,

for

example,

was

a


elite.

His whole life

was

spent

in various

political/

governmental

roles,

and his

power

was

based

solely upon

those

political

roles.

He never

moved into

business,

journalistic,

or

military

roles.

Unhappily,

not

all

presidents

are

so

easily

categorized.

However,

each

president

has

been

coded

and the

results

are in column

2

of Table

i.

It

is

assumed

here that

political

development

occurs when

multi-functional

elites

are

replaced

by


elites.

That

is,

the

greater

the

incidence

role/elite

congruence-political elites filling political roles-the more developed the

system.

Table

ii

indicates that

Mexico

has

been

increasingly

recruiting

poli-

tical elites

to

the

presidency.

When measured

in

terms

of

years

in

office,

the

improving position

of

the


elites becomes

even more

apparent,

so

that,

by

this

scale,

substantial

political

development

has occurred

in

Mexico.

TABLE

I I

Functional and

Political

Elites

(Mexico)

Number

of

Presidents

Years

in

Office

Era f

p

f

p

Santa

Anna

74%

26%

96%

4%

Juarez/Diaz

72%

28%

66%

34/

Revolutionary

62%

38%

55%

45%

Mexico also

evidences

considerable

political

development

when

compared

with four other Latin American

countries.

In

Tables

I2

and

13

the incidence of


elites

filling

the Mexican

executive

since

1940

is

com-

pared with the Argentine, Venezuelan, Colombian, and Paraguayan cases.

Every president

who

served between

I940

and

I965

is

included,

and even if

he

served

only

one

day

in

I940

or

I965

his whole

consecutive

term

is counted.

Forty-three

men

constitute the

survey.

Each has

been

coded

as

a

multi-func-



17/24

262

John

G.

Conklin

tional

or


elite

(see Appendix

III).

These

Tables show

Mexico

to be

the

most

politically

developed

of

the

five

countries.

Moreover,

the

percentile distance between Mexico and the other countries is

strikingly

wide.

TABLE

12

Levels

of

Political

Development

:

Numbers

of

Presidents

Numberand

Percentage

f

Presidents

Country

Multi-functional

Political

Governmental

Mexico

2

33% 4 67%

Argentina

7

64% 4

36%

Venezuela 6

67%

3

33?

Colombia

7 77%

2

23%

Paraguay

7 88%

I

12%

TABLE

13

Levels

of

Political

Development:

Years

in

Office

Numberand

Percentage

f

Years n

Office

Country

Multi-functional

Political/

Governmental

Mexico

12

33% 24 67%

Argentina 17 61%

II

39%

Venezuela

27 66%

14 34%

Colombia

27

79%i

6 2I

Paraguay 24

84%

5

I6?/

CONCLUSIONS

Substantive

Who

governs?

At the

outset

of

this

paper

this

question

was

posed

as a focal

point for political research.Who governs Mexico? Unfortunately, this paper

addresses

this

question

in

a

very

narrow

sense,

that

is,

from the

perspective

of

the

office of the chief executive.

It

does, however,

tell

us who

fills

the

presi-

dency

and

suggests long-term

recruitment

patterns.

In

Mexico,

the

'typical

president

was

born

in

a

town

or

city,

likely

in

the

Core

of

the

country

or

in

one

of the

Northern

states.

He

probably

completed

secondary

school

and there is

a

good

chance

he is

a

college

graduate

or finished

his

training

as a

military

cadet.

There is a

strong

chance

he is either

a

soldier

or a

politician

with

legal

train-

ing

and in

his forties

or fifties.

The

'typical'

Chilean

president

was born in

the heart of the

country, probably

Santiago, graduatedfrom college, probably

the

law school

at the

University

of

Chile,

had an extensive careeras a

politician

and

in

government

service,

and

assumed

the chief executive in his fifties

or

sixties.



18/24

Elite

Studies: the Case

of

the Mexican

Presidency

263

A

major

difference

in the

backgrounds

of the Mexican

and

Chilean

execu-

tives is

the

comparatively

arge

number of

military

presidents

in

Mexico.

But

the most

significant

difference lies in the relative

homogeneity

in the back-

grounds

of

the

Chilean

presidents.

Compared

with

the

Chileans,

the

Mexicans

are

a much more

heterogenous

lot. Whether we are

talking

about

age,

occupation,

or

birthplace,

it

is

easier

to

talk

of

a

'typical'

Chilean

than

a

'typical'

Mexican

chief executive.

Over

the

long

haul,

there has

been

a

definite trend

toward

the

'

civilization'

of

the

Mexican

presidency.

Moreover,

the

occupations

of the

civilian

presi-

dents are

increasingly political/governmental. Taking

this as

an indicator

of

political modernization,

Mexico's

political history

has

been

characterizedby

'development,'

and the

country

has

attained

a

degree

of

'

development'

not

yet

achieved

by

some

of her southern

neighbors.

Simultaneously,

there

has

been

a

shift

away

from the

use of violencias and

elections

to

gain

office.

Today

the

imposicion

seems

to have

been

institutionalized.

Method

There

are a number of

practical

advantages

to

the

positional

approach

in

studying

elites.

First,

it

greatly

reduces

the

problem

of

elite

identification,

especially when the

position

represents

the

pinnacle

or

near-pinnacle

of the

political

system.

Here

the

office of the

chief

executive

in

Latin

America

is

used

as

the unit of

analysis,

and

it seems safe

to assume

that

even

the obscure

personalities

who

served

short

provisional

terms are

representative

of

an elite.

This

method

of

identification is

particularly

useful in

large

countries where

the

researcher is concerned

with national

elites. The

problems

encountered

in

identifying

national elites

reputationally

or

decisionally

in

a

country

the

size

of Mexico

are formidable and

time-consuming.

The

accessibility

of

the

'positional tool' enhances

its

utility.

The

investigator

can

identify

and

analyze

elites

without

having

to

operate

in

the

field.

Along

these same

lines,

positional

analysis

lends itself

to

comparative

work. The

observer

can move

cross-nationally,

examining

a

single

position

without

totally

immersing

him-

self

(or

herself)

in the

government

and

politics

of

each

country

or

visiting

every country

personally.

Finally,

a

positional

study

is

relatively

easy

to

design

because ts

parameters

are more

easily

defined.

Not all

data is

equally

suited

for

coding

and

quantification.

Some

of

the

variables

used in

this

study

such as

years

in

office,

age,

and

education,

result

in 'hard' data that is

virtually

irrefutable.However, other variablessuch as

elite

type,

occupation,

and means to

office,

are '

soft'

in

the

sense that

the

data

results

from

the researcher's

judgment

of how an

individual took

office,

his

occupation,

and

his

elite

type.

This

inspective

data is

impressionistic

and,



19/24

264

John

G.

Conklin

lacking

the

precision

of

hard

data,

is

more

subject

to

error and

criticism.

Sadly,

'hard

data

variables' tend

to

concern

relatively

unimportant

questions,

whereas

'

soft data

variables

tend

to deal

with

matters of

greater significance.

For

instance,

the

average

age

of

the

presidents

of

a

country

is

obviously

less

important

than the

type

of

elite he

represents

or

the means

he

used to

gain

office.

Both

types

of data

can

be criticized when

the

researcher

combines

classes

of

variables

into

aggregates

and

uses

the

aggregates

for

generalizing.

Inevitably,

distortions are

introduced,

particularly

when the

number of

observations

is

limited.

Quantification

is,

however,

a

useful tool for

bringing

a

semblance

of

order to

a

large

number

of

observations.

Unless

various

classes

of

people

are

aggregated the raw data may well 'engulf' the researcherand its significance

might

be lost.

Social

Background

Studies

The

backgrounds

of

politically

powerful people

are useful

for

descriptive

purposes.

But,

what

is

needed are studies that

link

backgrounds

and behavior.

This

paper

includes a behavioral

variable,

means to

office,

and

I

have

attemp-

ted

to

identify

any relationship

that

might

exist

between

background

and how

individuals

achieve

the

presidency.

This is

simply suggestive

of what

might

be done. Another

question

that needs to be researched is the

relationship

between

background

and

policy.

Does

an individual's

class

origins,

education,

or

occupation

affect

his

policy

orientation?

Does

it

matter if an executive is a

military

man or

a civilian?

If

it

does

matter,

what are the

policy

conse-

quences

of

these

occupational

types

? These

are

the sort

of

questions

to

which

we

might

address

ourselves.



20/24


21/24

266

John

G.

Conklin

APPENDIX

I

(contd.)

Statesand

Towns

San

Luis

Potosi

Ciudad

(Valle)

de

Maiz

San Luis

Potosi

Sonora

Guaymas

(2)

Hermosillo

Alamos

Siquisiva

Populations

624,748

4,266

61,0I9

262,545

8,658

I0,6I3

6,i8o

76

Tamaulipas

249,253

Matamoros 8,347

Ciudad Victoria

11,25

Veracruz

1,124,368

Jalapa

3)

20,388

Veracruz

(3)

29,164

Tlacotalpan

5,089

Sayula

3,667

Zacatecas

475,863

Zacatecas

32,866

FederalDistrict (io) 468,705

Source:

The

population

for

each

town is

from

the census of

I900.

This

is

the

earliest

census

data available.

Ministerio

de

Fomento,

Censo

General

de la

Republica

Mexicana

(Mexico, I90I-6).

The state

figures

are also from

the

I900

census and are taken from Pan American

Union,

Mexico:

A General

Sketch

(Washington,

Pan

American

Union, I9II), p.

333.

Core

Aguascalientes

Federal

District

Guanajuato

Hidalgo

Mexico

Michoacan

Morelos

Puebla

Queretaro

San

Luis Potosi

Tlaxcala

Veracruz

APPENDIX

I

States

of

Mexico

by Region

South

Campeche

Chiapas

Guerrero

Oaxaca

Quintana

Roo

Tabasco

Yucatan



22/24

Elite Studies:

the Case

of

the Mexican

Presidency

267

North

Baja

California,

Norte

Baja

California,

Sur

Coahuila

Chihuahua

Durango

Nuevo Leon

Sinaloa

Sonora

Tamaulipas

APPENDIXII

(contd.)

West

Colima

Jalisco

Nayarit

Zacatecas

Source:

Howard

Cline,

The

U.S.

and

Mexico,

pp.

433-4.

APPENDIX

II

Presidents

of

Argentina,

Colombia,

Mexico,

Paraguay

and

Venezuela

(1940-65)

Argentina

Roberto Ortiz

Ramon Castillo

Arturo

Rawson

Pedro

Ramirez

Edelmiro

Farrell

Juan

Per6n

Pedro

Aramburu

Eduardo

Lonardi

Arturo Frondizi

Jose

Marfa

Guido

Arturo Illia

f

p

f

f

f

f

f

f

p

p

p

Colombia

L6pez

Pumarejo

Eduardo

Santos

Lleras

Camargo

Ospina

Perez

Laureano

G6mez

R.

Urdaneta

Rojas

Pinilla

Gabriel Paris

Le6n

Valencia

f

f

f

f

f

p

f

f

p

Mexico

Lazaro

Cardenas

Avila

Camacho

Miguel

Aleman

Ruiz

Cortines

L6pez

Mateos

Diaz

Ordaz

Paraguay

J. Estigarribia

Higinio

Morinigo

Juan

Frutos

J.

Natalicio

Raimundo Rol6n

Molas

L6pez

Federico

Chaves

Alfredo

Stroessner

f

f

p

p

p

p

f

f

f

f

f

f

p

f



23/24

268

lohn

G.

Conklin

Venezuela

L6pez

Contreras

Medina

Angarita

R6mulo

Betancourt

Gallegos

Freire

Delgado

Chalbaud

German Suarez

Perez

Jimenez

W.

Larrazabal

Raul Leoni

APPENDIX

III

(contd.)

f

f

p

f

f

p

f

f

p

APPENDIX

V

Education

of

the

Mexican

Presidents

Agustfn

de Iturbide

Guadalupe

Victoria

Vicente

Guerrero

Jose

Maria

Bocanegra

Pedro

Velez

Anastasio

Bustamante

Melchor

Muzquiz

Manuel

G6mez Pedraza

Valentin

G6mez Farfas

Santa Anna

Miguel Barragan

Jose Justo

Corro

Nicolas

Bravo

Francisco

J.

Echeverria

Valentin Canalizo

J. J.

de

Herrera

Mariano Paredes

Jose

Marfa Salas

Pedro

Marfa

Anaya

M.

de

la Pena

y

Pena

Mariano Arista

Juan

Bautista Ceballos

Manuel

Maria

Lombardini

Martin Carrera

R. Diaz de la Vega

Juan

Alvarez

Ignacio

Comonfort

Felix

Zuloaga

Manuel

Robles Pezuela

Secondary

College

None

College

College

Secondary

Unknown

Primary

College

Military

Cadet

Unknown

College

Unknown

Some

Secondary-Level

Unknown

Unknown

Military

Cadet

Military

Cadet

Some School-Level

Unknown

Some School-Level

Unknown

College

Military

Cadet

College

Some

School-Level

Unknown

Military

Cadet

Military Cadet

Tutorial

College

Unknown

Some School-Level Unknown



24/24

Elite

Studies:

the Case

of

the

Mexican

Presidency

269

APPENDIX IV

(contd.)

Miguel

Miram6n

JoseIgnacio

Pav6n

S. Lerdo de

Tejada

Jose

Maria

Iglesias

Benito

Juarez

Porfirio Diaz

Juan

N. Mendez

Manuel

Gonzalez

Francisco

L.

de

la Barra

Francisco

I. Madero

Pedro

Lascurain

Victoriano

Huerta

Francisco

Carvajal

Venustiano

Carranza

Eulalio

Gutierrez

Roque

Gonzalez

Garza

Francisco

Lagos

Chazaro

Adolfo de

la Huerta

Alvaro

Obregon

Plutarco Elias

Calles

Emilio Portes Gil

Pascual

Ortiz

Rubio

Abelardo Rodriguez

Lazaro Cardenas

Manuel

Avila

Camacho

Miguel

Aleman

Adolfo Ruiz

Cortines

Adolfo

L6pez

Mateos

Gustavo

Dfaz

Ordaz

Military

Cadet

College

College

College

College

Secondary

Unknown

Some

School-Level

Unknown

Attended

College

Attended

College

College

Military

Cadet

College

Secondary

Some

School-Level

Unknown

Some

School-Level

Unknown

College

Secondary

Some

School-Level

Unknown

Secondary

College

College

Secondary

Primary

Secondary

College

Secondary

College

College

Documents

Elites Studies, The Case of the Mexican Presidency