Boundary control: Subnational authoritarianism in democratic countries

Edward L. Gibson

doi:10.1353/wp.2006.0018

Boundary control: Subnational authoritarianism in democratic countries

Edward L. Gibson^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Political Science

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

294 Scopus citations

Abstract

This article considers the political situation of an authoritarian province in a nationally democratic country. The objective is to uncover strategies that incumbents (in this article, governors) pursue to perpetuate provincial authoritarian regimes, as well as dynamics that can undermine such regimes. A central insight is that controlling the scope of provincial conflict (that is, the extent to which it is localized or nationalized) is a major objective of incumbents and oppositions in struggles over local democratization. Authoritarian incumbents will thus pursue "boundary control" strategies, which are played out in multiple arenas of a national territorial system. The article fleshes out these processes via comparative analysis of two conflicts over subnational democratization in 2004: the state of Oaxaca in Mexico and the province of Santiago del Estero in Argentina.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	101-132
Number of pages	32
Journal	World Politics
Volume	58
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1353/wp.2006.0018
State	Published - Oct 2005

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Sociology and Political Science
Political Science and International Relations

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1353/wp.2006.0018

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title = "Boundary control: Subnational authoritarianism in democratic countries",

abstract = "This article considers the political situation of an authoritarian province in a nationally democratic country. The objective is to uncover strategies that incumbents (in this article, governors) pursue to perpetuate provincial authoritarian regimes, as well as dynamics that can undermine such regimes. A central insight is that controlling the scope of provincial conflict (that is, the extent to which it is localized or nationalized) is a major objective of incumbents and oppositions in struggles over local democratization. Authoritarian incumbents will thus pursue {"}boundary control{"} strategies, which are played out in multiple arenas of a national territorial system. The article fleshes out these processes via comparative analysis of two conflicts over subnational democratization in 2004: the state of Oaxaca in Mexico and the province of Santiago del Estero in Argentina.",

author = "Gibson, {Edward L.}",

note = "Funding Information: * I thank my Northwestern colleagues Michael Hanchard, James Mahoney, Will Reno, Ben Ross Schneider, Kathleen Thelen, and Jeffrey Winters for helpful comments on earlier versions of this article. I am also very grateful tojenna Bednar, Ernesto Calvo, Horacio Cao, Teri Caraway, Tulia Falleti, Judith Gibson, Anna Grzymala-Busse, Blanca Heredia, Scott Mainwaring, Robert Mickey, Maria Victoria Murillo, Hector Schamis, David Seitzer, Julieta Suarez Cao, Enrique Zuleta Puceiro, and, most of all, Eduardo L. Gibson. A grant from the George A. and Eliza Howard Foundation provided a sabbatical leave that made research on this project possible. Research was also supported by North-western University and a National Science Foundation CAREER grant (SBR-9702735).",

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N1 - Funding Information: * I thank my Northwestern colleagues Michael Hanchard, James Mahoney, Will Reno, Ben Ross Schneider, Kathleen Thelen, and Jeffrey Winters for helpful comments on earlier versions of this article. I am also very grateful tojenna Bednar, Ernesto Calvo, Horacio Cao, Teri Caraway, Tulia Falleti, Judith Gibson, Anna Grzymala-Busse, Blanca Heredia, Scott Mainwaring, Robert Mickey, Maria Victoria Murillo, Hector Schamis, David Seitzer, Julieta Suarez Cao, Enrique Zuleta Puceiro, and, most of all, Eduardo L. Gibson. A grant from the George A. and Eliza Howard Foundation provided a sabbatical leave that made research on this project possible. Research was also supported by North-western University and a National Science Foundation CAREER grant (SBR-9702735).

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N2 - This article considers the political situation of an authoritarian province in a nationally democratic country. The objective is to uncover strategies that incumbents (in this article, governors) pursue to perpetuate provincial authoritarian regimes, as well as dynamics that can undermine such regimes. A central insight is that controlling the scope of provincial conflict (that is, the extent to which it is localized or nationalized) is a major objective of incumbents and oppositions in struggles over local democratization. Authoritarian incumbents will thus pursue "boundary control" strategies, which are played out in multiple arenas of a national territorial system. The article fleshes out these processes via comparative analysis of two conflicts over subnational democratization in 2004: the state of Oaxaca in Mexico and the province of Santiago del Estero in Argentina.

AB - This article considers the political situation of an authoritarian province in a nationally democratic country. The objective is to uncover strategies that incumbents (in this article, governors) pursue to perpetuate provincial authoritarian regimes, as well as dynamics that can undermine such regimes. A central insight is that controlling the scope of provincial conflict (that is, the extent to which it is localized or nationalized) is a major objective of incumbents and oppositions in struggles over local democratization. Authoritarian incumbents will thus pursue "boundary control" strategies, which are played out in multiple arenas of a national territorial system. The article fleshes out these processes via comparative analysis of two conflicts over subnational democratization in 2004: the state of Oaxaca in Mexico and the province of Santiago del Estero in Argentina.

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Boundary control: Subnational authoritarianism in democratic countries

Abstract

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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