Kathleen Bruhn

Polarizing Mexico : the impact of liberalization strategy

The author argues that liberalization strategy in Mexico has been successful in the short-term, but in looking at issues of employment, income distribution, foreign trade and industrial specialization, it has created a polarization of economy and society resulting in unsustainable conditions.

Whores and lesbians: political activism, party strategies, and gender quotas in Mexico

Abstract This article examines the factors that led to improved representation of women in an unlikely setting: Mexico. Quotas can ensure gender balance in nominations and diminish the importance of other factors by limiting strategic choice. Yet few have examined why parties adopt quotas. I argue that activist pressures may be more important than electoral pressures in the social context typical of developing countries. Moreover, quotas may reflect a lack of will to balance tickets rather than formalizing an existing consensus. Finally, party structures — particularly the existence of transparent and reasonably democratic decision-making — maximize the chances of success.

Defining the Left in Latin America

Latin America’s Left Turns: Politics, Policies, and Trajectories of Change. Edited by Maxwell A. Cameron and Eric Hershberg. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2010. Pp. ix + 289.

Competition, Decentralization, and Candidate Selection in Mexico

27.50 paper. ISBN: 9781588267399. Latin American Populism in the Twenty-First Century. Edited by Carlos de la Torre and Cynthia J. Arnson. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press; Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013. Pp. xii + 398.

Dag Mossige, Mexico’s Left: The paradox of the PRD, reviewed by Kathleen Bruhn:

30.00 paper. ISBN: 9781421410098. After Neoliberalism? The Left and Economic Reforms in Latin America. By Gustavo A. Flores-Macias. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. Pp. xiii + 261.

Poverty of Democracy: The Institutional Roots of Political Participation in Mexico. By Claudio A. Holzner. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2010. Pp. xvii, 304. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Figures. Tables.

27.95 paper. ISBN: 9780199891672. The Resurgence of the Latin American Left. Edited by Steven Levitsky and Kenneth M. Roberts. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011. Pp. xiii + 480.

The Representational Fault Line: Candidates and Voters in Mexico's 2006 Elections

35.00 paper. ISBN: 9781421401102. The Success of the Left in Latin America: Untainted Parties, Market Reforms, and Voting Behavior. By Rosario Queirolo. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2013. Pp. xviii + 205.

Social Spending and Political Support: The "Lessons" of the National Solidarity Program in Mexico

34.00 paper. ISBN: 9780268039790.

Mexico : the struggle for democratic development

This article examines how political context affects the strategic choice of nomination rules, using data from federal and state-level legislative elections. Our analysis indicates that competition affects the selection rules parties adopt. Overall, parties are most likely to use open selection rules when they think they will win, largely due to the effects of activist competition over coveted nominations. However, state-level party leaders have not been consistently empowered by decentralization. Although state-level party leaders do have nonnegligible influence when it comes to the selection of local legislative nominees, they have more influence in those states that are the most dependent on the federal government for resources. Competitive context continues to be a stronger predictor of selection rule choice than decentralization.

Elite Polarization Meets Mass Moderation in Mexico's 2006 Elections

an engaging theoretical discussion of political representation by Mark Warren. He juxtaposes models of representative democracy and participatory democracy, and then discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each drawing upon the example of the Citizen Assembly in British Columbia. Warren offers a rich theoretical framework that would benefit anyone studying issues of representation. Overall, the book has the strengths and weaknesses of a good edited volume. Different voices speak to different issues, offering the reader a rich buffet of ideas and evidence. At the same time, because it is an edited collection without a conclusion, there is no cumulative argument about the lessons for contemporary democracies. We see the various parts of the elephant, but not the full picture. Still, these partial pictures are significant contributions to the representation literature.