Power Unleashed: Theorizing a Weak Ecology of Checks and Balances and Its Consequences. A Case From the Global South

Abstract

This article theorizes about weak checks and balances (C&B) and its plausible consequences. Drawing on empirical data from over 1100 municipal officials in Mexico, the study examines how executive dominance over three key institutions—the local council, internal comptroller offices, and human resources offices—facilitates consequences associated with abuse of power and a demise in democratic regimes. We use the case of systemic corruption in local governments to propose how C&B erosion undermines institutional autonomy and capacity, thereby fostering conditions in which corruption becomes normalized and self‐sustaining. By offering theoretical propositions supported by extensive survey data, the article illustrates how C&B mechanisms are systematically undermined. These findings have broader implications for understanding the global drift toward illiberal governance and the challenges to revert the situation. The study contributes to global debates on democratic backsliding by highlighting how subnational dynamics reflect broader patterns of authoritarian power consolidation.