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Multicultural Institutions, Distributional Politics, and Postelectoral Mobilization in Indigenous Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Todd A. Eisenstadt  and
Viridiana Ríos
Todd A. Eisenstadt
Affiliation:
American University eisensta@american.edu
Viridiana Ríos
Affiliation:
Department of Government, Harvard University vRíos@fas.harvard.edu
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Abstract

Contrary to the predictions of “power sharing” to mitigate ethnic conflicts, multicultural rights recognition can actually increase the frequency of local postelectoral mobilizations. This article demonstrates that the adoption of an ethnic rights regime for electing local government representatives may actually increase conflict if these multicultural laws are not carefully circumscribed to avoid violating human rights. Focusing on the 1995 multicultural rights reforms in Oaxaca, it presents evidence that legal changes purportedly implemented to recognize indigenous rights actually increased postelectoral disputes due to conflicts between county seat communities and peripheral population hamlets over access to funding by the central government. Based on this finding, the article addresses normative implications of “power-sharing” multiculturalism, recommending that multicultural laws be implemented only together with legal mechanisms to solve postelectoral disputes.

Type
Research
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , Volume 56 , Issue 2 , Summer 2014 , pp. 70 - 92
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 2014

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