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Democratization Without Representation
The Politics of Small Industry in Mexico

By Kenneth C. Shadlen

August | 2004 | 6 x 9
224 pages

Political Science, Latin American Studies
Hardback: $69.00 SH
ISBN
-10: 0-271-02391-0
ISBN-13: 978-0-271-02391-5

Paperback: $27.00 SH
ISBN
-10: 0-271-02696-0
ISBN-13: 978-0-271-02696-1

 


 
 

 


   

"This first-rate account of small industry politics in Mexico shows how democratization can actually hinder effective representation for weak actors. Meticulously researched and argued, Democratization Without Representation sets the standard for the Mexican case and will be required reading for students of business politics more generally."
—Strom C. Thacker, Boston University

"This fine book makes an important contribution both to the comparative literature on the quality of democracy in post-transition settings and to the growing literature on comparative business politics in Latin America. By deftly weaving together new archival evidence and interview material, Shadlen provides a fresh-and provocative-angle on the challenges that free-market economic reforms and political democratization pose for small business in developing countries. The book makes a convincing case that the democratization of authoritarian-corporatist regimes can ironically weaken the representation of small business in the policy arena. This, in turn, has sobering implications both for the quality of democracy and for overall economic performance, especially in terms of employment generation."
-Richard Snyder, Brown University

When countries become more democratic, new opportunities arise for individuals and groups to participate in politics and influence the making of policy. But democratization does not ensure better representation for everyone, and indeed some sectors of society are ill-equipped to take advantage of these new opportunities. Small industry in Mexico, Kenneth Shadlen shows, is an excellent example of a sector whose representation decreased during democratization.

Shadlen’s analysis focuses on the basic characteristics of small firms that complicate the process of securing representation in both authoritarian and democratic environments. He then shows how increased pluralism and electoral competition served to exacerbate the political problems facing the sector during the course of democratization in Mexico. These characteristics created problems for small firms both in acting collectively through interest associations and civil society organizations and in wielding power within political parties. The changes that democratization effected in the structure of corporatism put small industry at a significant disadvantage in the policymaking arena even while there was general agreement on the crucial importance of this sector in the new neoliberal economy, especially for generating employment. The final chapter extends the analysis by making comparisons with the experience of small industry representation in Argentina and Brazil.

Shadlen uses extensive interviews and archival research to provide new evidence and insights on the difficult challenges of interest aggregation and representation for small industry. He conducted interviews with a wide range of owners and managers of small firms, state and party officials, and leaders of business associations and civil society organizations. He also did research at the National Archives in Mexico City and in the archives of the most important business organizations for small industry in the post-World War II period.

 

   

Contents

List of Figures and Tables
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations

1 The Politics of Small Industry Representation

2 Representation via Accommodation: Small Industry and Postwar Developmentalism

3 The Challenges of Change: Crisis, Democratization, and the Quest for Representation

4 Democratization and Diminished Representation: Institutional Transformation and Political Exclusion

5 Orphaned by Democracy: Small Industry in Contemporary Mexico

6 Representation, Participation, and Development

Appendix: Interviews
Bibliography
Index


Kenneth C. Shadlen is a Lecturer in Development Studies at the Development Studies Institute of the London School of Economics and Political Science.