Latin American Government Essay

A COMPARITIVE STUDY OF ARGENTINA, MEXICO AND BRAZIL

INTRODUCTION

For populations, especially on the scale that we know them today, societies must have a set of rules in order to function. The government passes the laws, provides law enforcement and protects the nation’s boundaries. Most governments also provide education for its citizens and a wide variety of such services to improve the standard of living. Philosophical theories have been put forth by Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Montesquieu about the legitimacy of government.

This project focuses on one of the various forms of government namely, the Presidential form of government and a comparison has been drawn between two Latin American states (Argentina and Mexico) and an independent

Latin American presidentialism while sharing a fair number of features with the U.S, archetype, is very much its own breed. What appears to distinguish the Latin American variety is the high degree of executive law making powers. Specially Latin American constitutions are uniquely inclined to empower presidents to decree laws, initiate legislative proposals and exert powers in emergency

The main point about a presidential system is that its president is directly elected and his/her executive power is balanced by legislature that is independent of the president because it, too is popularly elected. The president, alone among all the officials of state, has general responsibility for public affairs. He or she may appoint ministers or cabinet members, but they are responsible only for their own department business, and they are accountable to the president, not to the legislature. To ensure a real separation of powers neither the president nor members of the cabinet can be members of the