Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: "Federal-State Divided Government. Consequences for the Mexican Federal System"

本博士论文研究支持调查考察了党派竞争的增加-特别是联邦-州分裂政府的出现-如何在九十年代改变了墨西哥联邦制度。Riker（1964）提出，有助于维持联邦协议的条件之一是，如果一个国家政党控制联邦行政部门，并与其他政党分享对州行政部门的控制权，或者，可能被称为联邦-州分治政府。这一主张背后的基本原理是，相关各方成为下一任联邦或州领导人的持续可能性实际上阻止了他们侵犯彼此的责任领域。然而，这一假设提出了一个有待检验的问题，因为在民主联邦制中，联邦-州分权政府是一种常见现象——或者至少是一种非常切实的威胁。出于这个原因，墨西哥的案例为检验提供了一个独特的机会，因为政党制度直到最近才真正具有竞争性。本文主要由两个部分组成。第一部分论述墨西哥联邦制度的变迁。通过定性和定量分析，该项目探讨了非pri州长的增加是否改变了联邦系统的运作（立法活动、最高法院判决以及联邦和州部委的活动）。通过计量经济模型和定性分析，第二部分调查了联邦-州分权政府是否影响了政策的选择、设计和实施（特别是财政资源的分配、公共卫生、公共教育和自然资源的管理）。该项目的第二部分在很大程度上依赖于在墨西哥北下加利福尼亚州、奇瓦瓦州和索诺拉州的实地研究（档案工作和访谈）。完成后，该项目将阐明具有专制历史的联邦安排的运作，这些安排最近经历了民主化进程（例如阿根廷、巴西、俄罗斯）。对民主化、政党竞争加剧和联邦制之间的关系也应该有更深刻的认识。该项目将审查民主化进程的一个重要但被忽视的后果：中心和区域之间关系的变化，以及这些变化对政策的影响。收集到的数据和信息将提供给整个学术界。

This Doctoral Dissertation Research Support investigation examines how increased party competition --- specifically the emergence of federal-state divided government --- has transformed the Mexican Federal System during the nineties. Riker (1964) suggests that one of the conditions that helps to maintain the federal bargain is if one national party controls the federal executive and shares with other parties control over the state executives, or, what might be called federal-state divided government. The rationale behind this proposition being that the constant possibility for the relevant parties to become the next federal or state leaders actually prevents them from invading each other's areas of responsibility.The hypothesis, however, presents a problem for testing because, in democratic federal systems, federal-state divided government is a common occurrence --- or at least, a very tangible threat. For this reason, the Mexican case offers a unique opportunity for testing because it is only recently that the party system has become truly competitive.The dissertation consists of two main parts. The first part deals with the transformation of the Mexican federal system. Using qualitative and quantitative analysis, the project explores whether the increasing presence of non-PRI governors transforms the operation of the federal system (legislative activity, Supreme Court decisions, and activities of federal and state ministries). With econometric models, and qualitative analysis, the second part investigates if federal-state divided government has affected the selection, design and implementation of policies (specifically, allocation of fiscal resources, public health, public education, and management of natural resources). The second part of the project relies heavily on field research (archive work and interviews) in the Mexican states of Baja California Norte, Chihuahua and Sonora. Upon completion, the project will shed light on the operation of federal arrangements with an authoritarian history that have undergone a democratization process recently (e.g. Argentina, Brazil, Russia). We should also gain a deeper understanding of the relationships between democratization, increased party competition, and the federal system. The project will examine a critical but overlooked consequence of democratization processes: changes in the relationships among the center and the regions, and the consequences of these changes for policy. The data and information collected will be provided to the scholarly community at large.