Fernanda Vidal Correa's Women in Mexican Politics is a welcome addition to the larger study of Mexican women's history. The book is set within the broader context of Mexico's transition to democratisation and renewed confidence in federalism post-1960. As Mexico's leadership adopted the political philosophy and practice of federalism, Vidal Correa argues that it resulted in both positive and negative results for women in relation to their political participation. This, she calls a dual effect. Federalism as a way of decentralising political power and increasing political participation from all corners of the republic was favoured as it provided more levels of accountability and helped to decentralise resources – political and financial. It also dispersed and, in some cases, weakened existing clientelist networks, as Vidal Correa's detailed and timely study indicates.

While federalism paved the way for some much-needed openings for women to enter and more fully participate in the political system, it was, in the end, imperfect (and continues to be so). Ultimately, even as old clientelist networks (comprised mainly of men) became diffused and weakened, these were pretty entrenched and continued to pose serious challenges to women wishing to enter politics. Some of these alliances – local, state and regional – functioned as obstacles to women's entrance into politics or as everyday challenges to navigate once women entered politics.

A major point advanced by Vidal Correa is that national progress was not a reflection of state-level politics as it relates to women's political progress; challenges remain. In a country that is predominantly patriarchal, despite changes in the law which have led to uneven inclusion of women throughout the nation, women continue to be at the mercy of political parties. Electoral rules concerning gender quotas and other changes in the area of women's participation are imprecise and there is a huge grey area. The changes to the electoral system, particularly those directly concerning gender equity requirements in party nominations, were challenged in the courts, resulting in different outcomes that depended on individual state laws. A lack of consistency in levelling sanctions on states continues to exist; states that do not comply, or do not completely follow through with the implementation of new laws, face no real threats. If sanctions do not exist, or if these are unevenly applied, then there is no real way to force states (and political parties) to comply.

Further, even in this renewed federalism context, in some cases local political networks are in cahoots with state governors, mayors and other power breakers. These new alliances help to maintain the status quo. In some regions, this has resulted in continued discrimination against women. In this way, older corporatist practices – which characterised the Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional, PRI) for decades – have continued. Vidal Correa's research, based on both quantitative and qualitative approaches, particularly the eye-opening oral interviews she incorporates, reveals the enormous challenges for women's fully fledged political inclusion. Interviews with women point to how these clientelist networks – often difficult to interrupt, break apart or infiltrate – are sustained through voting patronage, political capital, familial networks and financial resources. And, while women have had less access to these networks, when they have in fact been able to form part of these networks (using their own familial networks and/or financial resources), other challenges have presented themselves. Rooted in gender expectations and gendered societal roles, women's participation can be limited due the double burden of raising families and maintaining political careers.

Vidal Correa is at her best when applying a gendered analysis to the narrative of women's political participation. As she states, gender biases still exist. In cases in which women have been able to break through and enter political networks often governed by political parties, women frequently feel they cannot attend certain decision-making political meetings. Decision-making sites can be anywhere; but, when political meetings (informal in their naming, but formal in their results/outcomes) take place in sites marked for ‘men only’ (such as strip clubs or certain night clubs), women may feel uncomfortable and choose not to attend, even in cases when they are in fact invited. This, as Vidal Correa rightly points out, is an implicit exclusion of women. Further, familial obligations also contribute to women's uneven participation in decision-making political meetings. This crucial aspect of the challenges women encounter in political participation is captured towards the end of Vidal Correa's book: ‘Inside the parties, women are overshadowed by their family commitments and men are promoted because of them’ (p. 95).

While Mexico leads some of Latin America's largest countries in terms of gender equity among political parties, it has a long way to go regarding women's fully fledged political participation. As Vidal Correa makes clear, despite the forced gender quotas to reach gender equity in politics, the democratisation of Mexico has been uneven at best. Although women have gained seats in the lower and upper chambers, gender equity in terms of the number of women state judges, for example, still lags behind, in addition to equity in Mexico's Supreme Court. In the latter, men still hold the majority of the seats.

While the book could have benefitted from further editing for consistency and additional historical context, particularly during the turbulent 1960s when political confidence declined as a result of the brutal policies of the Díaz Ordaz administration, Women in Mexican Politics provides much-needed perspective to understand both the enormous progress that Mexico has achieved in the area of gender equity and the long road ahead for achieving women's full political participation. In short, Mexican women's political participation is both promising and challenging, and the field welcomes more studies like Vidal Correa's to help us better understand such complex, but important, historical processes.