DECEMBER 01, 17:57 EST

By JOHN RICE
Associated Press Writer

MEXICO CITY (AP) - As Vicente Fox ran for the presidency, critics ridiculed his vision of Mexico as ``Foxilandia'' - a Disneyland of fantastic, unachievable promises.

Welcome to Foxilandia.

Now that Fox has done the unimaginable - toppled the party that had ruled for 71 years - his administration began Friday with enormous expectations and great risks.

Fox himself called it ``the revolution of hope.''

Millions voted for Fox, not so much his party, merely because he represented change from a system that had brought Mexico stability but left it plagued with poverty and corruption.

Fox promises something often offered but rarely delivered to Latin American countries: capitalism without cronyism. He vows to expand education and housing for the poor, to bring credit to impoverished farmers, to bring honesty and efficiency to the notorious bureaucracy.

If he fails, Mexico's once-boring political scene could become much more chaotic and fractious. Many Mexicans could become even more frustrated with peaceful democracy - a frustration that has been rising in other Latin American nations.

After decades of rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party, the PRI, Mexicans are deeply skeptical of authority. A government census institute survey of young Mexicans, released this week, showed that only 5 percent have a favorable view of politicians and only 10 percent see police favorably.

Some 40 percent of Mexicans - some experts say 60 percent - are poor. Millions earn less than $5 a day. Indian women and street children beg in the streets of the nation's cities at the foot of gleaming, glass-walled bank towers.

Middle-class Mexicans have repeatedly worked their way out of economic crises caused by misguided economic policies, only to be kicked in the gut by yet another crisis.

Even now, with the economy booming, average wages are 10 percent below the level of 1993 - before the economic crisis of December 1994 sent Mexico into its worst slide since the Depression. Banks still struggle with loads of bad debt.

Fox offers a new approach: an attempt to spread a culture of responsibility and enterprise throughout society. But his promises are not new.

For decades, presidents have vowed to end corruption. Thousands of corrupt police officers are fired yearly. Yet citizens still are victimized by the ``mordida,'' ``the bite'' of bribes, both petty and grand.

For decades, the government offered subsidized credits to the countryside, only to see state credit agencies go bankrupt.

Recent governments also have promised - and failed - to end the threats of drug smuggling and rural rebellion.

Mexico's economy also is vulnerable to any downturn in the U.S. economy - something history suggests is possible after a decade of good times north of the border.

Exports have driven Mexico's economy in recent years - and more than 80 percent of exports go to the United States. Billions of dollars from Mexicans in the United States help keep thousands of tiny villages from utter destitution.

U.S. influence is shown daily in Mexico City's stock market. On Thursday, stock jitters in New York caused the Mexican market to plunge 4.3 percent.

Yet even in the face of such challenges and safely elected, Fox has not backed away from his optimism.

``Nobody can take away the force of our hope,'' he said in his inaugural speech. ``We will make a Mexico as great as our dreams.''