The Chamber of Deputies (
Spanish: ''Cámara de Diputados'', ) is the lower house of the
Congress of the Union, the
bicameral
Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single gr ...
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
of
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
. The other chamber is the
Senate. The structure and responsibilities of both chambers of Congress are defined in Articles 50 to 70 of the
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these pr ...
.
History
Bicameral legislature, including the Chamber of Deputies, was established on 4 October 1824. Unicameral Congress was in place from 7 September 1857 to 13 November 1874.
After being drafted, one copy of the
Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire was given to the Provisional Governmental Board, which was later put on display in the Chamber of Deputies until 1909, when fire destroyed the location.
Composition
The Chamber of Deputies is composed of one federal representative (in Spanish: ''diputado federal'') for every 200,000 citizens. The Chamber has 500 members, elected using the
parallel voting
Parallel voting is a type of mixed electoral system in which representatives are voted into a single chamber using two or more different systems, most often first-past-the-post voting (FPTP) with party-list proportional representation (PR). It i ...
system. Elections are every 3 years.
Of these, 300 "majority deputies" are directly elected by
plurality from
single-member district
A single-member district is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. Single-member districts are also sometimes called single-winner vo ...
s, the
federal electoral districts (with each
state divided into at least two districts). The remaining 200 "party deputies" are assigned through rules of
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
in 5 multi-state, 40-seat
constituencies. These seats are not tied to districts; rather, they are allocated to parties based on each party's share of the national vote. The 200 party deputies are intended to counterbalance the sectional interests of the district-based representatives. Substitutes are elected at the same time as each deputy, so
special elections are rare.
From 1917 to 2015, deputies were barred from serving consecutive terms in accordance with the Constitution's ban on immediate re-election to the legislature. Thus, the Chamber of Deputies was one of the few legislative bodies in the world that was completely renewed at an election. However, this changed with the 2018 elections, and deputies are now permitted to run for re-election three times consecutively. A deputy who has served two terms may serve again after sitting out one term. Congressional elections held halfway into the
president's six-year mandate are known as mid-term elections.
The current composition of the Chamber of Deputies is as follows:
Last election
2021
Of the 210 seats won by the MORENA-PT–PES alliance, 97 were taken by MORENA, 57 by the PT, and 56 by the PES
Of the 63 seats won by the PAN–PRD–MC alliance, 37 were taken by the PAN, 17 by the MC, and 9 by the PRD
Of the 13 seats won by the PRI–PVEM–PNA alliance, 6 were taken by the PRI, 5 by the PVEM, and 2 by the PNA
See also
*
President of the Chamber of Deputies Directive Board
*
Congress of Mexico
*
Senate of Mexico
The Senate of the Republic, ( es, Senado de la República) constitutionally Chamber of Senators of the Honorable Congress of the Union ( es, Cámara de Senadores del H. Congreso de la Unión), is the upper house of Mexico's bicameral Congr ...
*
Politics of Mexico
*
Electoral regions of Mexico
References
External links
* (in Spanish)
{{Coord, 19, 25, 48, N, 99, 07, 04, W, type:landmark_region:MX, display=title
1824 establishments in Mexico
Congress of the Union
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...