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Governors and “Their” Deputies: New Legislative Principals in Mexico
Author(s) -
LANGSTON JOY
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
legislative studies quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.728
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1939-9162
pISSN - 0362-9805
DOI - 10.3162/036298010791170132
Subject(s) - legislature , delegate , caucus , chamber of deputies , public administration , political science , politics , voting , state (computer science) , power (physics) , political economy , law , economics , physics , algorithm , quantum mechanics , computer science , programming language
Many studies on legislatures around the world have not detected a regional voting dimension. Yet governors are often important political figures and can exert strong influence on state politicians. From an analysis of the Mexican legislature, I determine that governors hold important resources that ambitious politicians need in a system with no consecutive reelection. Mexican governors use their power over federal deputies to prod their agents, the caucus leaders, into working for their states' interests on fiscally relevant issues, especially the annual budget. On all other issues, the governors delegate their deputies' votes to the party's legislative leadership.