On December 7, the Empirical Analyses of Political Economy Unit sponsored a lecture titled “The 2016 US Presidential Election from Mexico’s Perspective” by Professor Jesús Tovar from the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico. Professor Tovar specializes in Mexican politics and democracy in Latin America. In the lecture, he explained how this controversial election was perceived in Mexico.Mexico has been very closely connected to the United States (US) both economically and politically. Furthermore, approximately ten percent of the population has immigrated to the US. It is assumed that the policies of President-elect Trump, especially on free trade agreements and immigration control, will significantly affect the politics and economy of Mexico. Thus, Mexican people have paid great attention to the next U.S. administration. Professor Tovar’s lecture provided us with an invaluable opportunity to learn how the victory of Donald Trump meant to Mexico from an insider’s perspective.
The lecture focused on factors explaining the victory of Trump and plausible consequences of his policies to Mexico. More specifically, Professor Tovar explained that the white working class had become increasingly dissatisfied with the elitist Democratic Party and thus supported Donald Trump in the election, that the Democratic Party’s loss of support from the working class started under the administration of Bill Clinton, and that the new policy orientations of President-elect Trump would significantly affect the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Seminar participants were primarily graduate students working on international relations and Latin American studies. They actively discussed these issues with Professor Tovar and were able to deepen their understanding of the causes and consequence of the 2016 US election from Mexico’s perspective. Thus, this TGU seminar was helpful for participants to expanding their knowledge in politics in other countries.