<Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The 1917 Constitution borrowed heavily from the Constitution of the United States, providing for a clear separation of powers while giving the president wider powers than his American counterpart . However, this has only recently become the case in practice . </P> <P> For the first 71 years after the enactment of the 1917 Constitution, the president exercised nearly absolute control over the country . Much of this power came from the de facto monopoly status of the PRI . As mentioned above, he effectively chose his successor as president by personally nominating the PRI's candidate in the next election . In addition, the unwritten rules of the PRI allowed him to designate party officials and candidates all the way down to the local level . He thus had an important (but not exclusive) influence over the political life of the country (part of his power had to be shared with unions and other groups, but as an individual he had no peers). This, and his constitutional powers, made some political commentators describe the president as a six - year dictator, and to call this system an "imperial presidency". The situation remained largely unchanged until the early 1980s, when a grave economic crisis created discomfort both in the population and inside the party, and the president's power was no longer absolute but still impressive . </P> <P> An important characteristic of this system is that the new president was effectively chosen by the old one (since the PRI candidate was assured of election) but once he assumed power, the old one lost all power and influence ("no reelection" is a cornerstone of Mexican politics). In fact, tradition called for the incumbent president to fade into the background during the campaign to elect his successor . This renewed command helped maintain party discipline and avoided the stagnation associated with a single man holding power for decades, prompting Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa to call Mexico's political system "the perfect dictatorship", since the president's powers were cloaked by democratic practice . </P>

Who was mexico's first democratically elected president