Dismemberment of Municipalities: Impacts on the Municipal Legislative

ABSTRACT The article evaluates the effects of the division of municipalities on the elections in the composition in the municipal legislative chambers, where we try to identify the gerrymandering hypothesis, that is, change of the composition of the power in these municipalities involved with the dismemberment. Our results suggest that there is (i) a positive impact of dismemberment on the concentration of seats in a few parties in the city councils in the municipalities of origin, and (ii) a reduction of participation in the municipality of origin of minority parties, concomitantly with an increase of concentration in the chamber of the new municipalities of these parties.