A single, all-embracing will? Representation of the division of powers of the Mexican state in caricature, second half of the 19th century

Abstract

This article analyzes critically some public discourses on the predominance of the Federal Executive Power in Mexico that were elaborated and disseminated in the public space through the press, between the republican triumph of 1867 and the end of the century. These judgements derived both from views on the relationship between the three branches of the Mexican state - executive, legislative and judicial - as between the two spheres of power - the federal and state governments. The focus of the research is on printed newspapers of a joco-serious nature with political caricature, which actively intervened in the construction of representations of the contours of the Federal Executive. On this basis, we investigate to what extent these interventions reflected an effective situation and to what point they were an elaborate attempt to discredit the three branches of government, the states and, particularly, the men who occupied the magistrates' offices.