Mexican Local Government in Transition, Fleeting Changes or Permanent Transformation?

In recent years, several innovation processes have taken place within Mexican Local Government: in the leadership style of mayors, in social participation mechanisms, in intergovernmental relations, and in public management systems. These changes have led to an improvement in governmental performance and opening up and democratisation of the system of local governance. However, if we examine these changes over a longer period, we find that many of these innovations have not been institutionalised. The paper analyses the obstacles for the institutionalisation of these changes, the negative effects of some innovative strategies, and finally, the paradoxes of the democratic transition which seems to be hampered under the current model of "limited democratisation"