Tuesday, April 24, 2012

2012 - Question #4 – short answer/concept question




(A) What is an example of political corporatism in Mexico?
(B) Has that corporatism been strengthened or weakened by events of the past 12 years?
(C) Why?


See pp. 39, 128-129, and 134 in What You Need to Know

2 comments:

Ken Wedding said...

From Colorado comes this response:

(A) Political corporatism involves collaboration between elite business, labor, and state interest groups to shape policy. An example of this in Mexico is the Confederation of Mexican Workers, which is the largest labor union in Mexico. It used to be an essential pillar of the PRI and was thus politically powerful.

(B) The PRI's system of political corporatism has been declining steadily for some time now, but it has been dramatically weakened in the past 12 years. This is mainly due to the fact that the PRI was voted out of the Presidency, despite the plurality the party holds in Congress.
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The example of corporatism in Mexico is a good one and meets the rubric's requirement. The addition of the definition is good and helpful.

The explanation for the weakening of the PRI's corporatism is also good. Even though it would have benefited by more detail.

This response would earn 3 of a possible 3 points.

Ken Wedding said...

Another response from Colorado:

Political corporatism involved Giving political positions to the organizers of the 1968 student reports. Current: cooperations of labor union's leaders with the government.

Corporatism has been weakened because there is no more a solidifying PRI that would guarantee the "spoils". The old ties are no longer ensured, and there are other ways of political participation. For example, now, there is no unified, all-national women's rights movement, but there is a plethora of grass-root feminist organizations. Drug-related violence, too, has increased during the last decade because the cartel leaders are no longer co-opted by the PRI as effectively.
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This example of corporatism in Mexico is not adequate. The reference to the "organizers of the 1968 student reports" is confusing. Corporatism involves a lot more and more comprehensive involvement than "cooperations."

The assertion is that corporatism has been weakened, and that seems reasonable, but in this rubric, you cannot earn a point for that assertion without an accurate explanation ("Why?"). The PRI, as shown by the current presidential campaign is still a political force and its ability to deny the last two PAN presidents from accomplishing much in the national legislature testifies to its unity.

The development of alternatives to PRI "corporations" does suggest that other groups can be effective, but doesn't therefore demonstrate that the PRI is weaker than it once was.

I don't think this response earns any of the three points possible.