Intergovernmental Profile: Mexico

The federal constitution provides the basis for Mexico’s intergovernmental structure at the state and local levels. Mexico is divided in 32 states and 2,468 municipalities. All states and municipalities have the same functions and responsibilities irrespective of their level of development. Municipalities are separate entities from states, though they can be audited by the states’ audit offices.

Both states and municipalities are devolved subnational government institutions with extensive powers and functions. States replicate the federal structure of an executive, legislative, and judiciary powers. Governors and state legislators are elected directly every 6 and 3 years, respectively. Municipalities have a local council presided by a mayor. They are highly autonomous. In most states, municipalities need to submit their revenue budget for review by the state congress. In a few cases, when municipal budgets fail to meet legal requirements (e.g., regarding municipal taxation), state governments may return the budget back to the municipalities for re-submission.

Assignment of functions and responsibilities in Mexico is complicated. States are a residual level of government with few responsibilities defined at the constitutional level. In practice, though, states have concurrent or shared responsibilities along the entire spectrum of government functions. The three main functions of states are education, health, and public security. States build, maintain, and operate schools and hospitals, and so does the federal government. As for public security, the three levels of government are involved, with municipalities technically in charge of maintaining public order, states in charge of mid-level crimes, and the federal government in charge of organized crime and road security. In reality, the overlap of functions on the ground is problematic. Municipalities are in charge of urban planning and infrastructure, including public lighting and water and sanitation. Given the growth of urban areas, states are increasingly involved in urban planning. In some states, municipalities have ceded the water and sanitation function to states. The national electric utility provides, de facto, the public lighting service with municipalities paying back and/or houses being charged in their monthly electricity bills. A few municipalities directly build, manage, operate and maintain hospitals.