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Electoral Competition, Participation, and Government Responsiveness in Mexico
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Electoral Competition, Participation, and Government Responsiveness in Mexico

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  • Matthew R. Cleary

Abstract

In this article I test two competing visions about how democracy produces responsive government. Electoral theories of democracy posit that elected governments are responsive to public demands because citizens are able to sanction bad politicians and select good ones. Participatory theories attribute responsiveness to a citizenry's ability to articulate demands and pressure government through a wider range of political action. I test hypotheses derived from these two approaches, using an original dataset that combines electoral, socioeconomic, and public‐financial indicators for Mexico's 2,400 municipalities, from 1989 to 2000. The data show that electoral competition has no effect on municipal government performance. But the results are consistent with the hypothesis that nonelectoral participation causes improved performance. Thus, I suggest that the quality of municipal government in Mexico depends on an engaged citizenry and cooperation between political leaders and their constituents, rather than the threat of electoral punishment. I recommend that scholars broaden the study of government responsiveness to account for participatory strategies of political influence and critically assess the claims of those who would promote elections as a cure‐all for poor democratic performance.

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  • Matthew R. Cleary, 2007. "Electoral Competition, Participation, and Government Responsiveness in Mexico," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 51(2), pages 283-299, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:51:y:2007:i:2:p:283-299
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5907.2007.00251.x
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    1. Tomz, Michael & Wittenberg, Jason & King, Gary, 2003. "Clarify: Software for Interpreting and Presenting Statistical Results," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 8(i01).
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    2. Kayode Taiwo, 2024. "The Effect of Decentralisation on Access to Sanitation and Water Services: An Empirical Test using International Data," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 249(2), pages 157-180, June.
    3. Rojas Rivera, Angela Milena & Molina Guerra, Carlos Andrés, 2015. "A comparative analysis of political competition and local provision of public goods : Brazil, Colombia and Mexico (1991-2010)," Borradores Departamento de Economía 17493, Universidad de Antioquia, CIE.
    4. Yasmin Lurusati & René Torenvlied, 2023. "Does local democratization improve societal outcomes? Effects of mayoral direct elections in Indonesia," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-13, December.
    5. Rhys Andrews & Malcolm J. Beynon, 2019. "Configurational Analysis of Access to Basic Infrastructure Services: Evidence from Turkish Provinces," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 31(5), pages 1341-1370, December.
    6. Bharatee Bhusana, Ferris, J Stephen Dash & Stanley L. Winer, 2018. "Measuring Electoral Competitiveness: With Application to the Indian States," CESifo Working Paper Series 7216, CESifo.
    7. Young Bae & Byung-Deuk Woo & Sungwon Jung & Eunchae Lee & Jiin Lee & Mingu Lee & Haegyun Park, 2023. "The Relationship Between Government Response Speed and Sentiments of Public Complaints: Empirical Evidence From Big Data on Public Complaints in South Korea," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(2), pages 21582440231, April.
    8. Arvate, Paulo Roberto, 2013. "Electoral Competition and Local Government Responsiveness in Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 67-83.
    9. Alberto Chong & Ana L. De La O & Dean Karlan & Leonard Wantchekon, 2011. "Looking Beyond the Incumbent: The Effects of Exposing Corruption on Electoral Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 17679, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Smith, Heidi Jane M. & Revell, Keith D., 2016. "Micro-Incentives and Municipal Behavior: Political Decentralization and Fiscal Federalism in Argentina and Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 231-248.
    11. Aparicio, Francisco Javier & Meseguer, Covadonga, 2012. "Collective Remittances and the State: The 3×1 Program in Mexican Municipalities," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 206-222.
    12. Benjamin E. Bagozzi & Daniel Berliner & Zack W. Almquist, 2021. "When does open government shut? Predicting government responses to citizen information requests," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(2), pages 280-297, April.
    13. Díaz-Cayeros, Alberto & Magaloni, Beatriz & Ruiz-Euler, Alexander, 2014. "Traditional Governance, Citizen Engagement, and Local Public Goods: Evidence from Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 80-93.
    14. De La O, Ana L., 2024. "How clientelism undermines state capacity: Evidence from Mexican municipalities," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    15. Kailthya, Subham & Kambhampati, Uma, 2022. "Political competition and public healthcare: Evidence from India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    16. Tobias Hiller, 2023. "Measuring the Difficulties in Forming a Coalition Government," Games, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-15, March.
    17. Claire Dunn, 2022. "Subnational Politics and Redistribution in a Federal System: Determinants of Progressive Social Spending in Brazilian States," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 52(2), pages 283-309.
    18. Monkkonen, Paavo, 2016. "Where do Property Rights Matter More? Explaining the Variation in Demand for Property Titles across Cities in Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 67-78.
    19. Sávio L. C. Oliveira & Wallace Patrick S. F. Souza, 2022. "Political competition and candidate selection in Brazilian municipalities," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 42(2), pages 1171-1179.

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