PRI's all-powerful rulers is that the Mexican president is constitutionally pretty weak compared with his colleagues elsewhere in Latin America.

ECONOMIST: Mexico��s new president promises change. Can he deliver it?

But Mr Chirac politically weak at home, and constitutionally powerless to do much except in foreign affairs saw this as an opportunity to boost his fortunes by promoting France: he insisted on his candidate, Jean-Claude Trichet, governor of the French central bank.

ECONOMIST: Enter the euro | The

It is not a word for a dramatic shift from an absolute (though relatively gentle) monarchy with a weak consultative assembly to a constitutionally limited monarchy with a strong, sovereign parliament and an elected president who can remove executive branch officials without entreating the king.

FORBES: Why Is Obama's State Department Uneasy About Democracy?