Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: Grass- roots Associations and Local Political Participation in Mexico

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This doctoral dissertation research examines how non-political grass-roots organizations affect patterns of political participation in poor communities in Mexico. The researcher hypothesizes that the internal characteristics of the associations, as well as the local context within which they operate, has a direct linkage to patterns of political participation. The researcher has selected a matched sample of communities in Mexico and has coded different local associations for the degree to which they encourage open decision making. The openness and closedness of decision making is correlated with voting turnout, political party involvement and archival information about levels of participation. This study posits a causal linkage between non-political associational activity and political involvement that is important for understanding democratic political change in rural settings.