Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: "Federal-State Divided Government. Consequences for the Mexican Federal System"

University Of Rochester, Rochester NY

Investigators

Abstract

This Doctoral Dissertation Research Support investigation examines how increased party competition --- specifically the emergence of federal-state divided government --- has transformed the Mexican Federal System during the nineties. Riker (1964) suggests that one of the conditions that helps to maintain the federal bargain is if one national party controls the federal executive and shares with other parties control over the state executives, or, what might be called federal-state divided government. The rationale behind this proposition being that the constant possibility for the relevant parties to become the next federal or state leaders actually prevents them from invading each other's areas of responsibility. The hypothesis, however, presents a problem for testing because, in democratic federal systems, federal-state divided government is a common occurrence --- or at least, a very tangible threat. For this reason, the Mexican case offers a unique opportunity for testing because it is only recently that the party system has become truly competitive. The dissertation consists of two main parts. The first part deals with the transformation of the Mexican federal system. Using qualitative and quantitative analysis, the project explores whether the increasing presence of non-PRI governors transforms the operation of the federal system (legislative activity, Supreme Court decisions, and activities of federal and state ministries). With econometric models, and qualitative analysis, the second part investigates if federal-state divided government has affected the selection, design and implementation of policies (specifically, allocation of fiscal resources, public health, public education, and management of natural resources). The second part of the project relies heavily on field research (archive work and interviews) in the Mexican states of Baja California Norte, Chihuahua and Sonora. Upon completion, the project will shed light on the operation of federal arrangements with an authoritarian history that have undergone a democratization process recently (e.g. Argentina, Brazil, Russia). We should also gain a deeper understanding of the relationships between democratization, increased party competition, and the federal system. The project will examine a critical but overlooked consequence of democratization processes: changes in the relationships among the center and the regions, and the consequences of these changes for policy. The data and information collected will be provided to the scholarly community at large.