Market Reforms in Mexico Coalitions, Institutions, and the Politics of Policy Change

Market Reforms in Mexico examines Mexico's reform experience in privatization, deregulation, and environmental policy. More than simply a book on Mexican politics, this study speaks to the broader political dynamics behind the success or failure to implement reforms; first, by assessing new policy initiatives in multiple arenas across presidential administrations in Mexico, then by comparing Mexico's privatization experience to that of Argentina's. Through structured, focused comparison of select case studies, the author argues that the fate of dramatic reform initiatives turned on coalition politics (both inside and outside the state), and explains how institutional dynamics and the capacity to solve the problem of policy costs strongly affected reformers' prospects of success.

Mark Eric Williams is associate professor of political science at Middlebury College and a former National Science Foundation and Ford Fellow