Antonio Ugues

Citizens’ Views on Electoral Governance in Mexico

Abstract A growing body of research has noted the role of electoral governance as an increasingly important factor in facilitating credible electoral outcomes in newly democratized states. This article examines how public opinion of electoral governance institutions is shaped within a particular country and context. Using the data from the Mexico 2006 Panel Study, I find that public opinion of Mexico’s primary electoral governance institution, the Instituto Federal Electoral (IFE), is explained via individual assessments of the particular candidates for the Mexican presidency in the 2006 elections, partisan identification, citizens’ views on democracy, and other socio‐demographic variables. These findings raise important questions regarding citizens’ views on the primary institution of electoral governance in Mexico.

Two Political Worlds? The Relevance of Language in California Politics

THE CALIFORNIA Journal of Politics & Policy Volume 1, Issue 1 Two Political Worlds? The Relevance of Language in California Politics D. Xavier Medina Vidal , Antonio Ugues , Shaun Bowler UC Riverside Todd Donovan Western Washington University, Bellingham Abstract In this paper we examine how Spanish language marks a political divide within the Latino community. Spanish language use also provides an opportunity for political parties to send slightly different campaign messages. We illustrate this point with reference to California’s Democratic party. KEYWORDS: language, Latino representation Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank the participants and organiz- ers of the WISER conference at the University of Washington, Seattle in April 2008 for their comments and helpful feedback. www.bepress.com/cjpp

Experience Counts: Mixed Member Elections and Mexico's Chamber of Deputies

This paper draws on the legislative politics literature to explain the composition of commission assignments in the Mexican Chamber of Deputies. Members are elected to the chamber via a mixed method electoral system. Grounded in the argument of an ‘electoral connection’ and based on experiences in the German Bundestag, New Zealand, Japanese and Scottish parliaments and the Welsh Assembly, the literature to date predicts that the different routes to the legislature will produce different behaviour once someone is elected to the chamber. This is not the case for the Mexican Chamber of Deputies. The Mexican constitutional prohibition of re-election for Mexican federal deputies presents a number of obstacles for the ‘electoral connection’ to work and, in consequence, there is much weaker evidence in support of electoral system effects.

Two-Cultures? Latino and Asian Language Assimilation along the U.S.-Mexico Border

THE CALIFORNIA Journal of Politics & Policy Volume 3, Issue 1 Two-Cultures? Latino and Asian Language Assimilation Along the U.S.-Mexico Border Antonio Ugues, Jr, University of California, Riverside Keith E. Schnakenberg, Washington University in St. Louis Bohdah Kolody, San Diego State University Richard Hofstetter, San Diego State University John W. Ayers, Johns Hopkins University Abstract The assimilation of recent immigrants to the United States has been a topic of con- siderable debate. Conservative scholars argue that Latinos are developing a Spanish monolingual society on the United States-Mexico border. More progressive schol- ars maintain that Latinos assimilate at rates similar to other immigrant groups. This study evaluates these claims using responses from a large-representative survey in San Diego, California. We find that Latinos are much less linguistically assimi- lated than Asians and characteristics negatively associated with assimilation are more prevalent among Latinos than Asians. While social-environmental predictors suggest that Latinos are assimilating at slower rates than Asians, Latinos appear to be making steady ground in their assimilation patterns. The findings provide a nuanced perspective falling between disparate accounts of language assimilation. Keywords: language assimilation, immigration, two-cultures www.bepress.com/cjpp

The relationship between crime victimization, corruption, and public attitudes of Mexico’s armed forces

ABSTRACT This paper studies the relationship between self-reported crime victimization, perceptions of corruption, and attitudes of Mexico’s armed forces. We find that perceptions of corruption along with individual and state-level factors are important predictors of support for Mexico’s Army and Navy. While crime and violence have had a tremendous impact on Mexican society, crime victimization does not seem to undermine public support for the armed forces. In contrast, corruption in these institutions does undermine support. Given the historical and contemporary significance of the armed forces, this research has significant implications for the role of the coercive apparatus of the Mexican state.

Los Congresos Estatales y la Política Federal en México: state legislatures and federal policymaking in Mexico

ABSTRACT The Mexican Constitution, in the Poder Legislativo, grants state legislatures the authority to introduce legislation (iniciativas de ley) in the federal congress. In this paper the authors examine this powerful mechanism through which the Mexican state legislatures can directly influence policymaking at the federal level. Using a new data set of state-led initiatives, this work: describes the frequency with which iniciativas are introduced; describes the substance, timing, and final disposition of these state-led initiatives; and explains which factors affect the probability of presenting a state-led initiative. The authors find that party competition and partisan divisions at the state and federal levels play a significant role in the use of iniciativas de los congresos estatales. The authors’ study of this peculiar authority granted to the Mexican states contributes to the rich discussion of the changing role of the states in the era of Mexico’s nuevo federalismo.