Search

This article evaluates the evolution of democratic federalism in Mexico through a case study of central government involvement in the selection and removal of governors in the state of Yucatán. The research address debates regarding the nature of federalism in authoritarian systems and on the dynamics of democratization in a federal context. First, it challenges conventional characterizations of state politicians in authoritarian systems as submissive and lacking autonomy vis-à-vis the centre. Instead, the case demonstrates that regional political bosses can exercise an important constraint on the powers of national-level rulers by requiring that they select governors acceptable to local political elites. A second issue is to what extent national or subnational political change drives transitions from authoritarian rule. Recent literature on the Mexican case has emphasized the impact of state and local democratization on national-level change. In contrast, this study's analysis of reforms in the areas of elections and candidate selection reveal the iterative nature of subnational and national-level reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]