멕시코 무니시피오정부의 위상과 조직원리: 법적 근거를 중심으로

Abstract

This study focuses on the municipal organization and its operating principles as given through the Article 115 of the Federal Constitution, the State Constitution, the Municipal Organization Code and Ayuntamiento’s regulations. The municipio is the lowest unit of three steps in the administrative system of Mexico. ‘Municipio Libre’ was a key slogan of the Mexican Revolution, hence, the pursuit of municipal autonomy and independence has been the most important challenge in Mexican political history. However, the municipal autonomy can lead to weakening of the holistic dominance of the state and federal governments, which try to maintain their dominance over the municipio in any manner possible. The PRI had dominated all municipios through the discretionary control of municipal finance, but the political and economic crisis of the 1980s, and the federal goverment’s decentralization policy have led to changes in the form of municipal governance, away from the PRI’s holistic dominance to the coexistence of varied actors such as the central parties, usos y costumbres, and local parties. Nevertheless, the types and organizational principles of ayuntamientos are similarly shaped in accordance with the above mentioned legal issues. Ayuntamiento is composed of elected officials, including the municipal president, the sindicos and the regidores, and general officials appointed by the municipal president. The appointed officials are replaced when a new municipal president is entering office. Ayuntamiento’s organizational configurations emphasize checking the monopoly of power rather than the continuity of the administrative policy. The elected officials constitute a cabildo that is a nucleus of power in a municipio. Internally the power of the cabildo converges to the municipal president who is the head of the cabildo. The cabildo has all legislative, judicial and administrative features in a comprehensive manner. This characteristic led to the PRI taking control of the municipio and establishing a municipal government as the sub-administrator of central government. Amending several times the Article 115 of the Federal Constitution, notably in 1983 and 1999, cabildo is also conducted by regidores of various parties who are selected by the proportional representation. Hence, the cabildo president’s monopoly over power is limited and the mutual agreement procedure is even more important. Society is complex, experts in various fields are also involved in an ayuntamiento, and their role is becoming more important. Above all, through an amendment of the Constitution, a financial, personnel, administrative resources and power concentrated in the center are returned to the municipio, while the ayuntamiento’s autonomy and independence are also strengthened. The revolutionary slogan, ‘Municipio Libre’ comes into new reality that is creating a local political culture. Furthermore, the local politics in the municipio has imparted a new vitality and tempo of change to Mexican politics.