Mexico

The decentralisation that began in Mexico in the early 1980s was one of a series of changes to have shaped the evolution of the country’s system of municipal government. Despite the still-limited nature of local governance, and recent attempts under the last two federal administrations to recentralise power, municipalities are increasingly relevant actors in Mexico’s economic, social, and political life. This chapter provides a framework for understanding the evolution and current functioning of municipal government in Mexico. It shows how decentralisation measures have changed the nature of municipal government, and at the same time examines the limits imposed on it by legal strictures, fiscal challenges, and intergovernmental relations.