Rick Perry represents a model of politician not yet quite known in American politics. He is less a cowboy governor than what would be termed in Mexican politics a caudillo, a strongman. It is no coincidence, then, that the criminal case against him in Austin represents a collision between his vast but informal power and the rules of the road in American governance. And there is more to this case than meets the eye.

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Springtime in Texas is rodeo season. In the countryside, the fields turn bright green and the trees begin to bud. In the big cities, cowboys, pickups, trailers and livestock pour into giant arenas for bull riding, livestock shows and everything in between.

Even during rodeo season, it is easy to overlook how much of our present in Texas can be traced to our Mexican and Spanish past. The cowboy is a direct descendent of the vaquero, from his lariat down to his chaps and spurs; his string of horses following is just the old remuda. But the Mexican and Spanish influence is not confined to rodeos and ranches. Large swaths of property holdings are based upon Mexican and Spanish land grants. From bankruptcy to water rights, Texas laws are based at least in part on a patchwork of statutes tracing back to both countries.

And so it is, in a way, with our politics. In the years following independence, Mexico endured repeated struggles over power precisely because the central authority of the state was kept deliberately weak, the result of a backlash against the previous power of the Spanish crown. A president, for example, could not succeed himself, tempting men to seize and keep power illegally. The original Texan rebellion against Mexico in 1836 flew the Mexican tricolor flag with the year 1824 emblazoned in the center; before they wanted independence all the rebels wanted was for Mexico to adhere to its constitution of that year, which had allowed slavery in Texas.

Throughout the 19th century, up until its revolution, Mexico was largely governed in this way. A strong man, the caudillo, was chosen to lead the central government. Based to a degree on the Spanish tradition, the caudillo fashioned networks of power within the capital, but also micro-managed appointments of loyalists in the countryside. There were dictators, like Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana and Porfirio Diaz, who fit this mold. But even Benito Juarez, that most democratic figure, governed in this way.

Mexico also melded the Spanish model with the Indian model, as told in Enrique Krauze's masterful history, Mexico: Biography of Power. Out in the countryside, the caciques, regional and local bosses who dispensed favors and collected monies, were responsible upward. And then there were the patrones: landed men with vast wealth who allied themselves with the strong men to ensure their interests. All of it worked imperfectly, but it kept a weak executive in power. And it imposed a certain order.