INTRODUCTION At present, Mexico is in the midst of a difficult transition from a poor agricultural coun-try to an industrial one capable of providing employment and security for one of the world's fastest growing populations. With more than two-thirds of the people barely sub-sisting, there are still great extremes of wealth and poverty. This situation has focused attention on Mexico's social problems, caused considerable student unrest, and created pressure along the border by migrant workers wishing to enter the United States. The drive for industrialization has had spectacular results to the extent that Mexico has realized an economic growth rate of approximately 7 percent per year for the past 10 to 15 years. Nevertheless, poverty and unemployment are still widespread, and indus-try has been unable to absorb the increasing labor force that is migrating to the cities from the rural areas. Mexico's enviable economic performance over the past 20 years would have been impossible without the relative political stability that has existed since the 1930's. That stability is a product of the general consensus of the nation concerning the goals and di-rections on which the economy should concentrate. This widespread singleness of pur-pose is probably an outgrowth of Mexico's revolutionary convulsions during 1910-17, which apparently created in the people a feeling of having a deep stake in their country and government. Most Mexicans today are satisfied that their country has had its revo-lution once and for all, and few appear to question that further progress and reform should be achieved within the existing system of government. An all-encompassing political organization, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), is successfully maintaining its leadership and role as the official propagator of the revolu-tionary tradition in Mexico and has come to dominate the nation's political and economic life. The PRI has governed continuously and peacefully for more than 30 years with the consent of the overwhelming majority of Mexicans. Today, the Party includes major Mexican groups representing almost the entire political spectrum. This political consensus is believed to be the major reason for the country's continued economic growth, which is free of inflationary pressures and disputes over the distribution of national income through various segments of society. Since 1930, Mexico has had seven presidents, each of whom after serving six years in office has succeeded in transferring power to his successor in a peaceful and orderly manner. Mexico is unique among Latin American countries in not only possessing a popular, one-party system, but also in passing on the ideological concepts of institutions 1