Indian Organizations and Left-Wing Parties in the Mexican Transition: Political Participation in Indigenous Legislative Reforms in Michoacán

This text focuses on the central role played by an Indian association, the Nation Purepecha Organization (NPO), in the (failed) process to reform the local constitution of the state of Michoacán led by while for the first time, an opposition governor had been elected in the state in 2001. NPO’s participation is analyzed from a historical as well as "topographic" point of view (that is the participatory spaces occupied by the organization). If the organization has used the versatile repertoire of collective action typical of Mexican social movements in rural areas (litigation, lobbying and protest), the complementarity of these different types of participation is, however, limited regarding public policies and the acquisition of collective political skills.