Few recent studies have shown how Mexico, like many other Latin American countries at the beginning of this century, has adopted new policies and programmes in order to maintain and (re)build economic, social and cultural bonds with its migrant communities in the US, who represent about 15 percent of Mexico's population. Less research has been conducted on the constitutional reforms and electoral laws that allow Mexicans abroad to participate politically in their home country's domestic affairs from afar. Employing a transnationalist approach to international migration and democratization studies, this thesis is the first major study of the politics of Mexican emigration to the US and the impact of migrants' electoral participation in their home country's affairs presented in political and institutional terms. The main question is how and with what consequences did the Mexican state extend formal political membership to its emigrant population both at the national and subnational level. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, this thesis shows that the implementation of emigrants' political rights in Mexico has resulted from cross-border coalition formations between US-based political migrant groups and domestic non-PRI political parties (mainly the centre-left PRD) in a context of democratization and decentralization unfolding in Mexico, as well as the country's insertion in the global economy. In turn, although only a small number of Mexican migrants have taken advantage of these opportunities for cross-border political action to date, the opening up of the Mexican political system creates new challenges to the incipient democratic practice. For instance, the growing influence of migrants and migrant organisations in domestic politics, the complexities of representing and being accountable to constituencies abroad and to a limited extent, the transformation of traditional political structures, especially in communities with high levels of emigration
