Who runs local government in Mexico?

Mexico is a federation of 32 states (including Mexico City) and about 2,480 municipalities. Article 115 of the Constitution makes the municipality (municipio) the basic unit of local government, run by an elected council called the ayuntamiento. Article 2 of the Constitution recognises indigenous peoples' right to choose their authorities by their own rules, and in Oaxaca most municipalities elect their councils by community assembly rather than through political parties.

United Mexican States · Federal presidential republic · Central America

The levels of government below the nation

Level	How it is chosen	What it does
States (31) and Mexico City	Governor (head of government in Mexico City) elected for one six-year term; single-chamber state congress	Own constitutions, courts and laws; police, education and health shared with the federation.
Municipalities (2,481 in the OECD's 2021 count, including Mexico City's 16 boroughs, now called alcaldías)	Ayuntamiento of a municipal president (mayor), one or more síndicos and several regidores (councillors), elected for three years; one consecutive re-election allowed	Water, street lighting, waste, markets, local roads, municipal police, land-use planning (Article 115).
Localities (about 200,000)	Some have auxiliary presidencies and councils; others have agents chosen locally or appointed by the mayor	Not self-governing; depend on the municipality.

Three questions about local power in Mexico

Are local leaders elected?

Governors, state congresses, municipal presidents, síndicos and regidores are elected. In usos y costumbres municipalities the officials are chosen by assembly vote or consensus rather than party ballots, but the result is still certified by the state electoral institute.

Which laws set up local government?

Municipalities, ayuntamientos and the right to customary elections are all in the Constitution. Assembly procedures, the cargo system and tequio are customary but legally recognised where they are registered. Neighbourhood committees are informal.

Who are local leaders accountable to?

Voters re-elect or replace councils every three years. State congresses can suspend an ayuntamiento or remove members on legal grounds. Electoral courts review both party and customary elections, and state audit offices check municipal accounts.

Traditional and customary authority

Article 2 of the Constitution recognises indigenous peoples' right to decide their own forms of social and political organisation, apply their own legal systems to internal conflicts, and elect their authorities according to their own rules, procedures and customs, as long as human rights and the rights of women are respected. In Oaxaca, which has 570 municipalities, the state electoral institute (IEEPCO) lists 417 that choose their councils through 'indigenous normative systems' (sistemas normativos indígenas, often called usos y costumbres) and 153 that use political parties. In these places a community assembly usually chooses officials, often through a cargo system in which adults take turns in unpaid community posts. Electoral courts have overturned some assembly elections that excluded women. Outside Oaxaca, the town of Cherán in Michoacán has elected a council of elders by custom since 2011.

Community and neighbourhood power

Ejidos and agrarian communities, which hold a large share of Mexico's rural land, are run by an assembly of members and an elected commissioner (comisariado) under federal agrarian law. Many towns also have neighbourhood committees or 'tequio', a tradition of compulsory unpaid community work. Residents' associations exist in cities but have no special legal power.

Points to know

Before 2014 mayors could not be re-elected for the next term; a constitutional reform now allows one consecutive re-election.
Mexican municipalities are large: the average has over 50,000 people, compared with about 10,000 across OECD countries.
Municipal autonomy was written into Article 115 by constitutional reforms from 1983 onwards, after decades of central control under one dominant party.
Mexico City became a full federal entity in 2016; its old delegaciones became elected alcaldías in 2018.

Local terms

Ayuntamiento: The elected municipal council: the municipal president, síndicos (legal and financial officers) and regidores (councillors).
Usos y costumbres: 'Uses and customs': the customary rules by which many indigenous communities choose leaders, usually through an assembly.
Cargo system: A system where adults take turns serving in unpaid community posts, from errand-runner to senior office.
Tequio: Compulsory unpaid community work, organised by local authorities in many indigenous villages.

Sources

Mexico: country profile (SNG-WOFI), OECD–UCLG World Observatory on Subnational Government Finance and Investment, checked 14 October 2026
Mexico's Constitution of 1917 (rev. 2015), Constitute Project, checked 14 October 2026