page_title: Guadalajara
section_title: Government
hierarchical_section_title: Guadalajara / Government
caption_attribution_description: Español: Palacio de Justicia en la noche. This is a photo of a monument in Mexico, identified by ID 08874
context_page_description: Guadalajara is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the state of Jalisco. The city has a population of 1,460,148, while the Guadalajara metropolitan area has a population of 5,002,466, making it the second-largest metropolitan area in the country. Guadalajara has the second highest population density in Mexico, with over 10,361 people per square kilometre. Guadalajara is an international center of business, finance, arts, and culture, as well as the economic center of the Bajío region, one of the most productive and developed regions in Latin America.
  Guadalajara is the tenth largest metropolitan area in Latin America and a major Latin American tech hub and financial center. It is one of the most productive and globally competitive cities in the world. The city is an important center for science, technology, finance, culture, innovation, education, business, and tourism in Mexico. It is home to numerous landmarks, including Guadalajara Cathedral, the Teatro Degollado, the Templo Expiatorio, the Hospicio Cabañas, and the San Juan de Dios Market—the largest indoor market in Latin America.
context_section_description: As the capital of the state, the city is the seat of the state's government. As a result, state politics have a heavy influence in local decision-making and vice versa. Historically, the mayorship of the city has been a common leaping platform for the state governorship. Additionally, because of the sheer size of the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area vis-à-vis the rest of the state, the city's urban agglomeration—largely dominated and coordinated by the Guadalajara city council—captures 12 of the 20 seats in the state legislature allocated by district.
  All three branches of the state government are concentrated around the historic city center, with the Palace of Government, seat of the state executive, immediately southeast of the Cathedral. North, across the Plaza de la Liberación, is the State Legislature Building, and immediately east of the latter is the Supreme Tribunal of State Justice.
  Like other municipalities in Mexico, Guadalajara is governed by a municipal president, who exercises executive power for three consecutive years. This office is currently occupied by Enrique Alfaro (Movimiento Ciudadano). 
  The legislature has the cabildo, formed by the form chosen by the candidate for mayor, made up of aldermen, who are not elected by the people by direct or indirect voting, but the return happens automatically if the mayor wins.
  The municipality is divided into five electoral districts for the purpose of election of representatives of the city in the federal legislature. These districts are the VIII, IX, XI, XIII and XIV of the state of Jalisco.
  The city and the municipality of Guadalajara are essentially co extensive with over 99% of the municipality living within the city limits and nearly all of the municipality urbanized. Urbanization centered on the city spreads out over seven other municipalities; of Zapopan, Tlaquepaque, Tonalá, Tlajomulco de Zuñiga, El Salto, Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos and Juanacatlán. 
  These areas form the "Guadalajara Metropolitan Area" (Zona Metropolitana de Guadalajara in Spanish), which is the most populous in the state of Jalisco and the second most populous in the country after the Mexico City Metropolitan area. This metropolitan area had a population of 4,298,715 in 2008.
caption: Palace of Justice of Jalisco.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS REBEL T2i", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2012:09:30 15:46:46", "Image Artist": "Humberto Garcia Garcia", "Image Copyright": "Copyright (C) 2012 Humberto Garcia", "Image ExifOffset": "244", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "752", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "14707", "EXIF ExposureTime": "2/5", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "800", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:09:22 20:40:04", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:09:22 20:40:04", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "165241/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "2485427/500000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "29/8", "EXIF SubjectDistance": "29/20", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "21", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "04", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "04", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1036800/181", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "691200/119", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}