Mexican Constitution Essay, Research Paper

The Mexican constitution was adopted in 1917. Previous versions of the Mexican constitution were drafted or proposed, and one laid out the basic structure (1857). This was during conflict and social upheaval in the nation. The Mexican constitution was influenced by both Spanish law, and the United States’ constitution.

The most striking statements of the constitution are that there is freedom of religion but that another article negates any idea of separation of church and state. Also, it says that anyone arrested is guilty until proven innocent, the opposite of that in the United States. Like the constitution of the U.S. however, there are certain guaranteed freedoms. Some of these are: the right to expression, the right to information, freedom of writing and publishing, the right to petition peacefully, the right of assembly, the right to bear arms, and many others.

The constitution of Mexico is a lot like ours because it contains many of the same freedoms. It is probably similar because the Mexican constitution was highly influenced, and based on that of the United States. However, some parts are different. Such as “all people are guilty until proven innocent,” whereas in the United States “all people are innocent until proven guilty.”

The political structure is that like the U.S. which is centered around three traditional branches of government. These three branches are the president, the legislature, and the courts. Policy making is handled by the executive branch. Although the government is supposed to have the same power as the states, like in the U.S., the Mexican government actually has much more power than the states.