Exit and Voice

A free open access ebook is available upon publication. Learn more at www.luminosoa.org. Sometimes leaving home allows you to make an impact on it-but at what cost? Exit and Voice is a compelling account of how Mexican migrants with strong ties to their home communities impact the economic and political welfare of the communities they have left behind. In many decentralized democracies like Mexico, migrants have willingly stepped in to supply public goods when local or state government lack the resources or political will to improve the town. Though migrants' cross-border investments often improve citizens' access to essential public goods and create a more responsive local government, their work allows them to unintentionally exert political engagement and power, undermining the influence of those still living in their hometowns. In looking at the paradox of migrants who have left their home to make an impact on it, Exit and Voice sheds light on how migrant transnational engagement refashions the meaning of community, democratic governance, and practices of citizenship in the era of globalization.

Lauren Duquette-Rury is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Wayne State University.

Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Local Democratic Governance and Transnational Migrant Participation 2. Decentralization, Democratization, and the Feedback Effects of Sending State Outreach 3. Micro-Politics of Substitutive and Synergetic Partnerships 4. Effects of Violence and Economic Crisis on Hybrid Transnational Partnerships 5. Synergy and Corporatism in El Mirador and Atitlan, Comarga 6. Systematic Effects of Transnational Partnerships on Local Governance Conclusion: The Paradox of Cross-Border Politics Data Appendix A: Comparative Fieldwork in Mexico Data Appendix B: Transnational Matched Survey Data Instrument Data Appendix C: Principal Component and Cluster Analysis Using Survey Data Data Appendix D: Mexican Panel Data, Mexican Family Life Survey, and Statistical Analyses Notes Bibliography Index