"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. |
