Territorios de alternancia: el primer gobierno de oposicion en Chihuahua (review)

Territorios de alternancia: el primer gobierno de oposición en Chihuahua. By Alberto Aziz Nassif. Mexico City: Triana Editores, 1996. Tables. Notes. 216 pp. Paper.

Alberto Aziz's analysis of the first three years under PAN governor Francisco Barrio in the northern state of Chihuahua provides important insights into Mexico's unique transition to democracy. He explores the successes and the failures of the PAN governor and highlights a range of difficulties and dilemmas that come with alternation in power. Rooted in the twin assumptions that alternation in power is critical to democratization and that the regional level offers a laboratory to explore the mechanics of the process, Aziz hypothesizes that Chihuahua's alternation brought by the victory of Barrio in 1992 led to a range of structural changes: (1) the dismantling of corporatism and other forms of state-society relations practiced under the PRI, resulting in a broadening of the public's political space and pluralism; (2) the institutionalization of intergovernmental and party-government relations, particularly a growing separation of legislative and executive power, and the decentralization of resources; (3) an overhaul of the electoral system by removing government and party control of the process; and (4) a change in the form of governing marked by administrative efficiency taking precedence over political considerations.

Discussion of these changes is organized into five chapters. The first offers conceptual and theoretical background on the themes of democratization and transition. Though touching on some interesting and relevant points, the discussion here seems disjointed, muddled, and its relevance to the rest of the work is never quite clear. Still, a simple framework does emerge that guides subsequent chapters. Chapter two sets out the main strategies of the Barrio government. These center primarily on improving governance in an administrative context and dismantling the authoritarian and clientelistic structures nurtured over the years by the PRI. Of particular significance here is the distinction (dilemma) that is drawn between the governor's attention (and success) to issues of governance (such as increasing administrative efficiency, transparency, etc) versus his inattention to political issues (enhancing political efficiency and his own party's appeal, for example). Chapter three then examines the political-societal relations marking the period: the changing correlation of forces brought on by alternation. This includes an exploration of the actions of the PRI, now out of power, and its remarkable ability to recover politically and recapture the state legislature three years later; the governor's relationship to his own party and the difficulties of exerting complete control over the PAN; the government's handling of a conflict with the powerful teacher's union; and Barrio's difficult relationship with the media. The fourth chapter looks at the legal changes fathered by Barrio, particularly the Constitutional revisions related to the rights of indigenous peoples, electoral reforms, and a series of efforts designed to dismantle corporatism. It highlights both the limits of reform and the real democratic steps made during the period. Chapter five turns, finally, to an analysis of the public's reactions and views of the Barrio regime. Drawing on electoral and public opinion data, Aziz seeks to answer the question of why, despite alternation, democratization, and the changes under Barrio, the governor lost his legislative majority and a number of municipalities.

Methodologically eclectic, the work draws on participant observation, interviews (though these are never the object of analysis per se), public opinion and electoral data, and the review of documents, laws, and press accounts. The approach, the presentation and, at times, the spotty evidence tend to detract some from the book's strong and finer points. The fit among the concepts presented in the opening section is unclear, weakening the study's theoretical contribution. The prose seems to shift from description and analysis to criticism and promotion. At times, Aziz seems to sympathize with Barrio by acknowledging the constraints or complexities of the problems being tackled...