This book explores the political economy of subnational development in Mexico. Like much of Latin America, Mexico underwent market reforms and democratization in the late 20th century. In addition to transforming national institutions, these changes led to sharp political and economic divergence among Mexican states. The author offers a novel explanation for these uneven results, showing how relations between local governments and organized business gave rise to distinct subnational institutions for managing the economy. The argument is developed through a paired comparison of two states in central Mexico, Puebla and Querétaro. This work will be of interest to students of Latin American and Mexican politics, regional development, and government-business relations.

Examines Mexico's regional development policy options for the coming decade.

Examines Mexico's regional development policy options for the coming decade.

Economic Policy Reform in Mexico.

This text examines the responses to the challenges imposed by reforms in Mexico's economic and political systems, and the international economic community for transparent and fair business dealings. Weighing goals of economic reform against its results, prospects for further reforms are evaluated.

Critical veiw of current economic cooperation between government and business in modern Mexico.

In Latin America in general, economic liberalization of the 1980s and 1990s has led to an increasing concentration of economic power in the hands of big economic interests. Strategic Alliances and Other Deals argues that in Mexico, the advent of a North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and the U.S. has accelerated the shift of economic power towards dominant private sector interests. Indeed, Mexico opened up its economy at a greater pace and to a further extent than any country in the region (with the exception of Chile under the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, 1973-1989). In this book, Kleinberg shows how the formal mechanism established to bring private-sector demands to the NAFTA negotiating table forged a transparent, closer, more strategic alliance between the state and big business that goes beyond the coalitions and pacts created during the heavily protectionist substitution stage. Business was not only guaranteed a significant role in the free trade negotiations, but also greater influence in economic policy making as well. This has led to a newer, more consistent negotiating style between sectors of business and the state. Pacts made between the state, business, and labor during the economic crisis of 1995 demonstrated the dominance of business over economic policy decisions. The Mexican State has historically depended upon the cooperation of the labor and peasant sectors along with business. The shift in business-state relations poses grave challenges for future stability and democratization in Mexico. It is likely that the growth of political power of the business sector will not cause long-term socioeconomic instability.

Beginning in 1983, the Mexican government implemented one of the most extensive programs of market-oriented reform in the developing world. Downsizing the State examines a key element of this reform program: the privatization of public firms. Drawing upon interviews with government officials, business executives, and labor leaders as well as data from government archives and corporate documents, MacLeod highlights the difficulties of linking market reforms to improved public welfare. Privatization failed to live up to its promise of raising living standards or decentralizing the economy. Indeed, privatization actually increased the concentration of wealth in Mexico while redirecting the economy toward foreign markets. These findings contribute to theoretical debates regarding state autonomy and the embeddedness of economic action. MacLeod calls into question the autonomy of the Mexican state in its privatization program. He shows that the creation of markets where public firms once dominated has involved both the destruction of social relations and the construction of new relations and institutions to regulate the market.

At the turn of the millennium, Mexico seemed to have finally found its path to political and economic modernization; a state which had been deeply embedded in society was being pulled out, with new political leaders allowing market forces to play a greater role in guiding the nation's economic development, and allowing old patron-client networks to crumble. At the same time, many hoped that political and legal reforms would increase the state's capacity to provide prosperity, security, and equity for its citizens. In the midst of this historic transformation, however, Mexico was confronted with an urgent new policy challenge. Internationally recognized experts from the academic and think-tank communities in the United States, Mexico, and Canada consider the origins of the current crisis in Mexico, and the nature and effectiveness of the Calderón government's response. Simply not another book on North American regional security, this volume uses Joel Migdal's concept of "the state in society" to provide a refreshingly clear and accessible exploration of political change in the developing world. The engagement with the US and Canada gives the reader a chance to observe the dynamics of persuasion across the developmental divide. Four key questions structure the study: What does the ongoing security crisis in Mexico tell us about the changing role of the state in society there? What does the changing role of the state tell us about the nature (and intractability) of the crisis? How has the transition to democracy affected the links between the state and organized crime in Mexico, and the state's capacity to contain non-state challengers? What kinds of political and legal reforms are called for, and what effects can we expect them to have on the extent and intensity of violence in Mexico? No other study comprehensively uncovers new conceptual and theoretical insights in each of these areas whilst offering some practical guidance for policy-makers and publics seeking to understand these urgent and complex challenges.