National Institutions, Spatial Differentiation and Race: Variation in Cuba's Political Regime

Abstract

Does territorial variation matter for institutional inclusion, how do officials discuss it and, given racial heterogeneity, how do interacting spatial and racial variations affect institutional design? This article examines the spatial anchoring of Cuba’s Council of State members in 2003, 2008, 2013 and 2018. There has been little official public discussion regarding Council member territorial districts. Fidel Castro’s presidency scored low on spatial inclusion, displaying marked territorial disparities in Council membership. Such disparities narrowed under Raúl Castro and Miguel Díaz-Canel, improving spatial inclusion. Selectors have also decoupled racial and territorial factors in choosing Council members. Relative to each province’s Afrodescendant population share, there have been more Afrodescendant Council members than demographically to be expected in Afrodescendant-minority provinces. Through 2013 Council Afrodescendants were fewer than demographically to be expected in the three Afrodescendant-majority provinces. Only in 2018 did Afrodescendant population shares and Council membership shares match in Afrodescendant-majority provinces.