This chapter asks whether policy reforms that formally permit participation by organized poor people actually led to power-sharing in practice. The Mexican state has more than two decades of experience with national rural development programs that convene ostensibly participatory regional and municipal councils. The chapter maps patterns of regional variation in pro-poor institutional change in rural Mexico by comparing seven programs, including the Community Food Councils (DICONSA), the Regional Development Funds (INI), the Municipal Development Funds (SEDESOL), Rural Development in Marginal Areas, the Protected Natural Areas, the Municipal Councils for Sustainable Rural Development (SAGAR), and the Regional Sustainable Development Program (PRODERS). The state-society councils' practices varied widely, across programs, across regions, and over time. There is no independent evidence that the majority of regional councils were pluralistic and participatory in any of the national programs studied.
Keywords: policy reforms, regional councils, state-society councils, national rural development programs, pro-poor institutional change