Victoria E. Rodríguez

Decentralization in Mexico : from Reforma Municipal to Solidaridad to Nuevo Federalismo

* Decentralization in Mexico: The Reconfiguration of Centralization * Federalism a la Mexicana * Responding to Crisis: Opening the Political Space and Deciding to Decentralize * Centralizing Politics Versus Decentralizing Policies, 19701995 * Dependent Sovereignty: Intergovernmental Finances and the States * Municipio Libre: Ten Years of Decentralization in Practice * Retaining Power by Giving It Away: From Reforma Municipal to Solidaridad to Nuevo Federalismo

New Federalism, Intra-governmental Relations and Co-governance in Mexico

Evidence from six Mexican states is analyzed about changes in government organisation and performance arising from decentralisation and the recasting of federalism structures. Spurred by rising pluralism, greater electoral transparency, alternancia , and willingness of the Centre to ‘let go’, a more genuine structure of shared powers is emerging between the executive (governors), the legislature and the judiciary. The government bureaucracy is undergoing modernisation, and governors are seeking to share power with legislatures as a means of sharing the responsibilities of statecraft. Local congresses are exercising greater ‘checks’ and ‘balances’ vis-a-vis the executive branch. Finally, the judiciary is beginning to be reorganised, particularly at the national (Supreme Court) level, where it is starting to develop jurisprudence relating to inter- and intra-governmental relations.

Disentangling the PRI from the Government in Mexico

Este trabajo pretende analizar el grado en que el Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) y el gobierno de Mexico se entrelazan. Si bien estos dos aparatos a menudo perciben como uno solo, es importante desagregar analiticamente sus papeles, funciones y acceso a recursos, asi como diferenciar el personal y las carreras seguidas por quienes pertenecen a una u otra institucion. El trabajo demuestra que estos dos aparatos son diferentes en muchos aspectos, y discute hasta que punto la apertura politica y la democratizacion en Mexico pueden estar llevando a una mayor divergencia o convergencia entre las dos estructuras. De manera un tanto paradojica, dada la ortodoxia tecnica y neoliberal de la presente administracion, los imperativos politicos tienden a llevar al PRI y a las estructuras gubernamentales hacia una vinculacion mas estrecha y hacia un traslape mayor. Los autores argumentan que esta convergencia va en contra de un proceso de democratizacion y apertura politica genuinas.

The New PRI: Recasting its Identity

During the Salinas presidency, Mexico experienced the most dramatic changes in its economic and political structures since the administration of Lazaro Cardenas (1934–40). Our purpose in this essay is to examine one arena where political change can be clearly observed — namely, in the performance of the Partido Revolutionario Institutional (PRI) in state and local government. Although still in its early stages, we will describe the emergence of the so-called ‘New PRI’ insofar as it is composed of a different breed of politicians and administrators, a changing rationality underpinning decision-making procedures, new relations with citizens, greater accountability and openness in governing, a distancing from old traditions of party patronage, and a different type of relationship among the different levels of government. As yet, this new modus operandi of the PRI in government is not pervasive across the nation, but has emerged forcefully in the more progressive states of the northern part of the country, particularly in those where the opposition has its principal strongholds. We shall argue that the primary stimulus for these new patterns of government is, precisely, the opening of the political space and a cleaner, more closely contested electoral environment in which the PRI can no longer automatically assume victory.