The missing link” in the history of public administration in Mexico: pre-hispanic city-States.

Abstract

The history of Mexican public administration is incomplete because it has forgotten pre-Hispanic societies with their peculiar forms, techniques, personnel, and administrative models. This "missing link" must be incorporated into the study of public administration in Mexico; it can contribute knowledge to administrative activity prior to the Conquest and the Viceroyalty. Using the historical method with a documentary review, sources are identified to link pre-Hispanic societies as city-states as an object of study. First, a brief description is provided of the Preclassic to Postclassic periods in pre-Hispanic peoples in Mesoamerica, particularly the Maya and the Mexica. Second, it is argued that pre-Hispanic societies were city-states, not states in the modern sense. Third, some elements of public administration proposed by Gladden (1989) in pre-Hispanic peoples are described: 1) senior management and administration; 2) functions and organization; 3) personnel; 4) administrative techniques. and 5) administrative models. Finally, some ideas are highlighted that reflect the importance of administration in pre-Hispanic peoples in order to understand its importance in the Mexican administrative machinery.