A  degree  of  responsibility  was  given  to  the  individual
states  similar  to  that  given  the  states  of  the  American
Union.  They  had  like  limitations.  In  law  their  gov-
ernments were  described  as  republican,  representative,
and  popular.  They  had  the  same  general  divisions  of
powers  as  the  central  government.  The  legislative
power  in  the  majority  of  the  states  was  vested  in  a  single
representative  body  called  a  Congress.  The  members,
in  most  cases,  were  chosen  indirectly  for  terms  of  two
years.  The  executive  power  was  in  the  hands  of  a  gov-
ernor chosen  almost  without  exception  indirectly  and
serving  four  years.  The  majority  of  the  states  had  su-
preme courts  with  a  system  of  inferior  courts  and
judges.
In  short,  the  Mexican  constitution  of  1857  set  up  a
frame  of  government  that  had  all  the  nominal  guaran-
tees necessary  for  the  establishment  of  a  popular  gov-
ernment of  the  sort  that  had  been  created  north  of  the
Rio  Grande  in  a  sister  republic,  whose  constitution  Mex-
ican statesmen,  almost  without  exception,  have  ad-
mired.2

The  theory  of  the  Mexican  constitution  was  never  put
into  practice  in  either  the  central  government  or  the
states.  The  fundamental  concept  of  the  division  of
powers  between  the  three  departments  was  never  ob-
served. In  the  period  of  confusion  between  the  issuance

2  A  cogent  criticism  of  the  influence  of  the  example  of  the  United
States  upon  Mexico  is  found  in  T.  Esquivel  Obregon,  Influencia  de
Espana  y  los  Estados  Unidos  sobre  Mexico,  Madrid,  1918,  passim.
