Marginalization, cronyism, and voter turnout in an oil town. The case of Ciudad del Carmen

Abstract

The specific purpose of this study is to understand the relationship between the conditions of marginalization and the political-electoral participation in urban areas of a municipality located in southeastern Mexico, whose main feature is being the nerve center of the parastatal Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) since the 1980's.The fact that raises the most concern is whether the existence of sectors with high and low marginalization within this municipality, limits or hinders political participation, more specifically, if it has inhibited the alternation and the plurality of political parties in the municipal presidency, the governorship and the council offices; in other words, whether the conditions of inequality and social exclusion in certain spaces constitutes an obstacle to the development of electoral democracy in the municipal field.