Session Abstract

Municipal governments were the most intimate point of contact between state and citizen in nineteenth-century Latin America.  Geographically similar to an American county and administratively closer to an American township, the municipality governed the daily life of every person residing in Latin America.  Therefore the history of municipal administration is critical to understanding questions of material well being and the standards of living of Latin Americans across the social spectrum.  This panel examines municipal governance during the long nineteenth century from Latin American independence to the Mexican Revolution to address central questions about the roles municipal councils exercised in daily life.  What were the responsibilities of municipal administrations in governing Latin American communities? What were the fiscal dimensions to community governance that shaped and bounded municipal administration?  Did municipalities exercise autonomy in responding to local conditions and crises or were they subordinated to larger political structures and priorities?  What effect did these elements of responsibility, fiscal resources, and relative power have on the lives of their citizens?  This panel brings together social and economic historians of Latin Americas two biggest nations—Mexico and Brazil—to explore these questions, which have been largely overlooked in the history of municipal governance in Latin America.