Boundary Control
Subnational Authoritarianism in Federal Democracies

Gibson explains how subnational authoritarianism is part of democratic politics and strategic interactions between local authoritarians and national democratic leaders.

Edward L. Gibson (Author)

9780521127332, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 7 January 2013

208 pages, 24 b/w illus. 6 tables
23.4 x 15.5 x 2.3 cm, 0.34 kg

'Gibson concurs in emphasizing the importance of whether a given federal system is 'municipal-empowering' or 'province-empowering,' and identifies 'plural cities' as potential problem sites for provincial authoritarians.' Kent Eaton, Latin American Research Review

The democratization of a national government is only a first step in diffusing democracy throughout a country's territory. Even after a national government is democratized, subnational authoritarian 'enclaves' often continue to deny rights to citizens of local jurisdictions. Gibson offers new theoretical perspectives for the study of democratization in his exploration of this phenomenon. His theory of 'boundary control' captures the conflict pattern between incumbents and oppositions when a national democratic government exists alongside authoritarian provinces (or 'states'). He also reveals how federalism and the territorial organization of countries shape how subnational authoritarian regimes are built and how they unravel. Through a novel comparison of the late nineteenth-century American 'Solid South' with contemporary experiences in Argentina and Mexico, Gibson reveals that the mechanisms of boundary control are reproduced across countries and historical periods. As long as subnational authoritarian governments coexist with national democratic governments, boundary control will be at play.

1. Introduction
2. Territorial politics and subnational democratization: charting the theoretical landscape
3. Subnational authoritarianism in the United States: boundary control and the 'Solid South'
4. Boundary control in democratizing Argentina
5. Boundary control in democratizing Mexico
6. Boundary control: comparisons and conclusions.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP], Comparative politics [JPB]