Municipal Resources and Fragmentation of the Party System: Quasi-Experimental Design with the Magical Towns Program in Mexico

Resumen

If they share institutional and sociological similarities, what is the cause of the variation presented by the fragmentation of the party system at the sub-national level? This article proposes that party leaders consider the expected benefit and the expectation of gaining some constituency: in territories with few resources, an increase in the budget is followed by an increase in fragmentation; while, where resources are abundant, an increase in the budget is followed by a decrease in fragmentation. Using an unpublished database created by the author, the theoretical proposal is tested in three Mexican municipalities enrolled in the Pueblos Mágicos Program: the results of the ITSA regression model are consistent with the theoretical proposal, since being a magical town has an impact in the ENP.