Origins of instability in early republican Mexico / Donald Fithian Stevens.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stevens, Donald Fithian, 1953-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political stability--Mexico--History--19th century.

Political stability.

Mexico--Politics and government--1821-1861.

Mexico.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (200 p.)

Place of Publication:

Durham : Duke University Press, [1991]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In the decades following independence, Mexico was transformed from a strong, stable colony into a republic suffering from economic decline and political strife. Marked by political instability—characterized by Antonio López de Santa Anna’s rise to the presidency on eleven distinct occasions—this period of Mexico’s history is often neglected and frequently misunderstood.Donald F. Stevens’ revisionist account challenges traditional historiography to examine the nature and origins of Mexico’s political instability. Turning to quantitative methods as a way of providing a framework for examining existing hypotheses concerning Mexico’s instability, the author dissects the relationship between instability and economic cycles; contradicts the notion that Mexico’s social elite could have increased political stability by becoming more active; and argues that the principal political fissures were not liberal vs. conservative but were among radical, moderate, and conservative.Ultimately, Stevens maintains, the origins of that country’s instability are to be found in the contradictions between liberalism and Mexico’s traditional class structure, and the problems of creating an independent republic from colonial, monarchical, and authoritarian traditions.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Tables and Figure

Acknowledgments

One Instability and History

Two Accounting for Caudillos

Three Political Conflict in Early Republican Mexico

Four Paths to Power

Five Holding on to Power

Six Social and Political Landscapes

Seven Conditions and Convictions

Eight Origins of Instability in Mexico

Appendixes

A Cabinet Ministers and Presidents, 1824-1867

B Elite Politicians and Their Residences in Mexico City, 1848

C Statistics

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (pages [160]-177) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780822397427

0822397420

OCLC:

893681278