Are American States governed in the similar way that Canadian Provinces and Mexican States are governed?

9 comments

1. A lot of us do. I’ve been to five or six of them.

   Even the people that don’t know that Mexico has states, likely wouldn’t be surprised by it.

   Without knowing how the states are run, I can’t really give a comparison.

2. Most Americans probably know that Canada has provinces and Mexico has states. The Mexican states one might be a little less known in places without a Mexican immigrant population. Most Americans probably don’t know anything about how these states are run or what powers they have.

3. The fact that Canada and Mexico have provinces/states is generally known.

   I don’t really know how the governance of the Mexican states works. The Canadian provinces have less local power than US states. Our states are sovereign under our constitution. Canadian provinces are creatures of their national government.

4. Most countries do have states or provinces of some sort. Federal republic (or in Canada’s case they’re still a monarchy ROFL) is a much more popular form of government than unitary republic. Everyone likes local government, not just US Americans.

   I suppose the reason why we talk about states so much (even though most other countries have them, too) is because our country was formed as an agreement between the states, rather than having a country which was then subsequently divided into states. After the revolution, we had the articles of confederation, which provided weaker ties between the states than the current EU. Texas was independent for a bit before they went bankrupt and went calling to Uncle Sam (which they had always intended to do, anyway – politics over the expansion of slavery and war with Mexico held the issue up in the US congress) and so was California for about 3 seconds. So we have a powerful mythos about how the states are like mini countries which could be independent if they wanted, even though in practice it never actually worked.

5. Yes. We know the name of our neighbor. Yes, we know our neighbor to the south has states.

   No, the canadian provinces are not governed like US states, while they are co-sovereign like US states, they use very different forms of governments. Provinces, while they do have a degree of autonomy are less so than are US states as well. They do not create their own criminal laws or have their own constitutions for example. Canadian province/state governments are delegated powered from their federal governments, US states powers all belong to the states except for the few outlined as for the federal in the constitution. Canadian Territories are different even than are their provinces.

   Mexican states are more similar in setup, they have their own constitutions, make their own laws, have executive, judicial, and legislative branches like the US. Their states have a lot of autonomy as well.

6. While I’m very familiar that Mexico and Canada have administrative units, I have little idea how they’re governed. I know Canada is parliamentary but no clue on Mexico. This isn’t something we cover in public schools nor is it very relevant to daily life.

7. Yes, we know that Mexico has states and that their official name is Estados Unidos Mexicanos (United Mexican States). Much of the US was Mexico not that long ago, historically speaking. I live in California, which used to be part of the Mexican state Alta California, and still borders the Mexican state of Baja California. I don’t know the intricacies of how they are governed, however they do have a similar structure to our own.

8. I just watched something saying that all (?) criminal law in Canada is made at the federal level and applies nationwide (yes I could research this further before posting, but I would need more coffee to do that). If that’s the case, the level of autonomy is very different from the US.

   I’m not sure if that’s what you mean by governance, though, since if you are talking about what the executive branches of the US states (governors & state agencies, as opposed to state legislatures, which make the state-level laws) do, such as enforce the laws, I’m assuming it’s the same in Canada. But in reality, since US states are making their own laws (which are in force in addition to federal laws) governors have a lot of power and leverage to get laws passed, and additionally, state agencies can create enforceable rules and regulations (basically, laws by another name) if delegated that power by state lawmakers when they pass laws, as is often the case.

   Edit: Yes, I like to think most of us know that Canada has provinces and Mexico has states, except complete idiots (wish I could say that number was super low, but…). If you read or watch any kind of news, especially if you live anywhere in the lower half of the US or on the West Coast, you will often hear about things happening in the “Mexican state of Sinaloa” or wherever, usually in stories about crime, human trafficking, drug smuggling, etc. And I think Canada having provinces is almost universally known. God, I hope so. 🙂

9. No. The Federal Government of Canada is stronger than the US Federal Government with the Federal Government dictating what the States do more. Power starts at the Federal Level then is “Devolved” and handed out to the States as the Federal Government wishes. Anything not specifically given to the States stays under Federal Authority.

   The US is the opposite. Power Starts with the States and a portion of that Sovereignty is given up to the Federal Government. The Powers of the Federal Government are specifically dictated by the Constitution and anything not specifically given to the Federal Government stays under the Jurisdiction of the States.

   Mexico is kind of in the middle. On paper the Federal Government has a bit more power than the US Federal Government does over the States but in function most things are left up to the States.