Assessing the consequences of electoral democracy - Subnational legislative change in Mexico

What are the consequences of democratization? How do they manifest themselves sub-nationally? An intracountry comparative analysis of legislative institutional change in the Mexican states can explore these theoretical questions. The analysis focuses on three states with relatively similar structural conditions but remarkably different patterns of political competition. Data include an interrupted time series regression analysis, in-depth field research, and more than seventy interviews. As a result of growing electoral competition, legislatures gain greater autonomy from executives, more resources, greater internal decentralization, and higher levels of activity.