Mexico, Competence, Merit Ideal - understand-culture

Knowledge and Aptitude

Section B of Article 123 of the Mexican Constitution covers the workers of the federal Powers of the Union. Fraction VII states: “La designación del personal se hará mediante sistemas que permitan apreciar los conocimientos y aptitudes de los aspirantes” (Staff shall be appointed through systems that allow the knowledge and aptitudes of the applicants to be assessed).

Fraction VIII gives them rights to a promotion ladder, the escalafón, “a fin de que los ascensos se otorguen en función de los conocimientos, aptitudes y antigüedad” (so that promotions are granted on the basis of knowledge, aptitude and seniority).

Inherited Teaching Posts

After the education reform of 2013, under President Enrique Peña Nieto, the General Law of the Professional Teaching Service set public competitions, concursos de oposición, as the way into a teaching post. In 2019, Expansión explained what came before. The old system “abrió la puerta para la venta y a las plazas vitalicias, que eran heredadas” (opened the door to the sale of posts and to posts for life, which were inherited).

“Como no había un concurso, no se podía garantizar que quien llegara fuera por méritos y capacidades” (Since there was no competition, there was no guarantee that whoever arrived did so by merit and ability). Since 2019, a unit of the Ministry of Public Education, USICAMM, has assigned teaching posts. On May 31, 2026, President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed that it would disappear.

The Shepherd from Guelatao

Benito Juárez “nació el 21 de marzo de 1806 en un poblado de indígenas zapotecos, San Pablo Guelatao” (was born on March 21, 1806, in a village of Zapotec Indians, San Pablo Guelatao). This is how a biography by INEHRM, the federal institute for historical studies, begins.

His parents died when he was small. He worked in the fields and as a shepherd. At 12 he went to the city of Oaxaca, to the house where his sister worked as a cook. He learned Spanish only at about that age. After his law studies, he was the first graduate of the Institute of Sciences and Arts of Oaxaca.

Forty-Nine of One Hundred

As summarized by IMCO, the 2019 report on social mobility of the Centro de Estudios Espinosa Yglesias (CEEY) found that “49 de cada 100 personas que nacen en los hogares del grupo más bajo de la escalera social, se quedan ahí toda su vida” (49 of every 100 people who are born in the households of the lowest group of the social ladder stay there all their lives).

In the south, the figure is 67 of 100. In the north and northwest, it is 25 of 100.

The Selection Exam

For the school year 2026-2027, “más de 158 mil aspirantes de licenciatura compiten por apenas 21 mil lugares” (more than 158,000 applicants for undergraduate study compete for only 21,000 places) in the UNAM’s selection exam, according to Uno TV. The UNAM offered 50,113 places for new students in all. The remaining places go through the pase reglamentado, a direct entry that requires a minimum grade average of 7.

Grade Averages for Judges

In 2025, Mexico elected its judges by popular vote. Expansión reported that candidates needed “por lo menos ocho de calificación en la Licenciatura en Derecho” (a grade of at least eight in the law degree) and a “calificación mínima de nueve en la especialidad a la que se postularon” (a minimum grade of nine in the specialization for which they ran).

“Sí, es un requisito establecido en la Constitución” (Yes, it is a requirement set in the Constitution), said the electoral councilor Carla Humphrey. In June 2025, the INE, the electoral institute, excluded five elected judges who had not reached the required average.

We the Nobles

In the film Nosotros los Nobles (2013), a rich father pretends to be bankrupt so that his three irresponsible children learn to work. In June 2013, Animal Político reported that the film had earned about 25.4 million dollars and had been seen by almost six million people in Mexico. It was “la película con más éxito de taquilla en la historia reciente del cine mexicano” (the most successful film at the box office in the recent history of Mexican cinema).

Whoever Does Not Cheat

El que no transa, no avanza. “Whoever does not cheat does not get ahead.” In a column in the newspaper Vanguardia in August 2026, Juan Pablo Becerra links the saying to the political identity of the years of PRI rule.

The column is titled “La cultura de la transa en México” (The culture of cheating in Mexico), and it quotes the saying as a complaint.

Article 34

Mexico’s law on the professional career service in the federal administration fills posts through open competition on merit. Its Article 34 allows an exception. In exceptional situations, a person can be appointed temporarily, without the recruitment procedure, under the responsibility of the head of the agency.

According to figures of the Ministry of Public Administration compiled in a UNAM journal, federal agencies made 4,451 appointments under Article 34 in 2019 and held 2,449 open competitions. In 2018, the figures were 2,665 appointments and 5,714 competitions.