"Reviews history of local governments, or municipios. After briefly reviewing legal and political characteristics of local governments in the pre-1959 period, work focuses on the years following the 1959 revolution. Presents information from a systematic survey of municipios in four central cities conducted during 1989-91. Offers a detailed analysis of poder popular and its local organs. Discusses community and political participation, relative freedom of elections, continued discrimination against women in local elections, and failures of local governments"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 57.