| Book Review | The Western Historical Quarterly, 32.4

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| Book Review | The Western Historical Quarterly, 32.4 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Border Boss: Manuel B. Bravo and Zapata County. By J. Gilberto Quezada. (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1999. xviii + 291 pp. Illustrations, tables, notes, bibliography, index. $29.95.)

The recent 2000 presidential election, characterized by voting irregularities in various Florida counties, underscored the long history of electoral chicanery in American politics. But political intrigue and voter manipulation has not been exclusively a national phenomenon, but a system deeply rooted in state and local government. Utilizing private family papers, administrator-historian J. Gilberto Quezada in Border Boss examines the rise and fall of Judge Manuel B. Bravo of Zapata County, one of the most colorful and influential "petty despots" of South Texas. 1

Circumstances along the Texas-Mexico border early in the twentieth century contributed to the reign of Bravo as a jefe político, political boss. Physically, the region was isolated, allowing politicians to control local affairs without outside interference. Historically, bossism was well-entrenched, stretching back for generations, thereby permitting the Partido Viejo [old party] to perpetuate political relationships and maintain uninterrupted hegemony. Demographically, Zapata County remained predominantly Hispanic, providing the ruling patron [boss] with a cohesive voting bloc. This common bond, Quezada asserts, produced a unified consciousness, or la raza, that encouraged loyalty to local leaders who, in turn, pursued goals beneficial to the community. . . .

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