1. The Central-Local Division of Power in the Americas and the Renewed Mexican Federalism (Old Institutions, New Political Realities)
- Author:
- Jorge A. Schiavon
- Publication Date:
- 05-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
- Abstract:
- This research paper explores whether the central-local division of power is an important institutional variable in the operation of political systems in the Americas. It develops a typology of central-local divisions of power in the hemisphere based on two specific characteristics that differentiate them (federal-unitary and centralized-decentralized), and discusses the relevance of the institutional and partisan configurations of the system in the workings of this variable. Then, it constructs a veto gates and veto players model in order to analyze the causal mechanism through which the centrallocal division of power impacts political systems in the Americas. It then presents two examples (with variations in time and space) to support the argument that the central-local division of power's relevance depends on its type, the institutional configuration, and party composition of the system. In doing so, it analyses the Mexican federal system, arguing that renewed Mexican federalism and its consequences in terms of democratic governance and the efficient provision of public policies is a result of the concurrence of old institutions with the new political reality, that is, the intersection of the old institutional framework and the new partisan configurations of the Mexican political system.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Government, and Sovereignty
- Political Geography:
- America and South America