Kunle Owolabi

Citizenship, Indigenous Autonomy: Usos Y Costumbres and the Politics of Oaxaca Kunle Owolabi

This study examines the impact of the legalization of an indigenous model of municipal government known as usos y costumbres on the political system of Oaxaca, a predominantly rural state in southern Mexico. Since 1995, 418 of Oaxaca¿s 570 municipalities, accounting for 36% of the state¿s population, legally elect their municipal authorities through community assemblies, in which voting is open and public, and the suffrage is limited active participants in the social and political life of the community (typically, able- bodied adult males). Using elite interviews, census data and electoral data, this study examines how the legalization of usos y costumbres has affected citizenship, partisanship, and electoral behaviour in state and local politics in Oaxaca. As Oaxaca is the only Latin American polity that recognizes indigenous municipal autonomy, it provides useful insight into understanding the extent to which indigenous peoples' demands for greater local autonomy are compatible with democratization in the region. As such, this study may be useful to those interested in indigenous rights, citizenship, multiculturalism and democracy.