Constitution of 1917

Constitution of 1917. The Constitution of 1917 is the supreme law of Mexico, formally titled the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States. It was drafted in the city of Querétaro by a constitutional convention during the Mexican Revolution and promulgated by President Venustiano Carranza on February 5, 1917. It established Mexico as a federal, democratic republic and is renowned for its advanced social provisions, particularly in labor rights and agrarian reform, which were revolutionary for its time and influenced subsequent Latin American legal frameworks.

Historical context and drafting

The document emerged from the protracted and violent Mexican Revolution, a conflict that pitted factions led by figures like Francisco I. Madero, Emiliano Zapata, and Pancho Villa against the old regime of Porfirio Díaz. Following the fall of the Huerta dictatorship, the victorious Constitutionalist faction, under First Chief Venustiano Carranza, convened a congress in Querétaro in late 1916. This constituent congress was dominated by more radical elements, including supporters of General Álvaro Obregón and the ideas of Andrés Molina Enríquez, who pushed beyond Carranza's more conservative draft. The final text synthesized demands from the Plan of Ayala and the Plan of Guadalupe, directly responding to the revolutionary causes of land and labor justice.

Structure and key provisions

Modeled in part on the earlier Constitution of 1857, it is organized into 136 articles within nine titles. Its first section guarantees individual guarantees similar to a Bill of rights. The most groundbreaking articles are found in its social chapters. Article 27 asserts national ownership of subsoil resources, empowering the state to expropriate land for redistribution to communal ejidos, a direct response to the vast holdings of the hacienda system and foreign corporations like those in the oil industry. Article 123 established an extensive code of labor rights, including an eight-hour day, a minimum wage, the right to strike and unionize, and compensation for injuries.

Revolutionary impact and implementation

Its immediate implementation was uneven, as the post-revolutionary state, under successive presidents like Álvaro Obregón and Plutarco Elías Calles, grappled with instability and regional caudillos. The land reform provisions began a slow and complex process of breaking up large estates, while Article 27 became a central point of conflict with foreign powers, notably leading to the Mexican oil expropriation of 1938 under President Lázaro Cárdenas. The labor provisions fueled the growth of powerful, state-aligned unions such as the Confederación Regional Obrera Mexicana and later the Confederation of Mexican Workers. The constitution also firmly established anticlerical measures in Article 130, which sparked the violent Cristero War in the late 1920s.

Amendments and evolution

As a living document, it has undergone over 200 amendments, reflecting Mexico's political evolution. Significant changes include the 1953 amendment granting women's suffrage, the 1992 reforms under President Carlos Salinas de Gortari that modified Article 27 to end land redistribution and allow privatization of ejido land, and the 2011 human rights amendment. Reforms in 2013 under President Enrique Peña Nieto opened the state-dominated PEMEX and the energy sector to private investment, dramatically altering the economic framework established in 1917. The electoral system has also been repeatedly reformed, most notably after the 1988 election.

Legacy and significance

It is considered one of the first and most influential social constitutions of the 20th century, serving as a model for other documents like the Weimar Constitution and the Russian Soviet constitution of 1918. It provided the legal and ideological foundation for the PRI-dominated state that governed Mexico for most of the century. Its principles continue to be invoked in contemporary political debates over energy policy, indigenous rights, and economic inequality. The original document is housed in the Archivo General de la Nación in Mexico City.

Category:1917 in Mexico Category:Mexican Revolution Category:Constitutions of Mexico Category:1917 in law