Book chapter(print)#12005
United Mexican States
Describes the origins, development, & functions of the Mexican Constitution. The Constitution, established in 1917, founded a federal system based on the tenet that significant powers should dwell in a strongly secular social-welfare regime with authority to act in such policy areas as foreign & domestic trade, agriculture, food, health services, education, & energy. This system enabled government centralization & a strikingly nationalized economy. This trend of Mexican federalism toward centralization has been challenged only since the early 1980s by calls for policies promoting government decentralization, democratization, & economic liberalization. K. Coddon