The politics of economic liberalization: Policy-making in Mexico during the debt crisis (1980-1992)

The objectives of this thesis are: (a) To explain the extent and the conditions under which there were significant changes in participation in policy making in Mexico during the process of economic liberalization that began in the 1980s, and; (b) To assess the likelihood of a reversal of economic liberalization. These issues are examined in the context of three competing explanations of policy making and economic liberalization in Mexico. The "breakdown of corporatism" explanation argues that economic liberalization occurred in conjunction with the erosion of the social pact between organized labor, the private sector, and the government. The "instrumentalist" explanation holds that an export-oriented economic elite controlled the state apparatus and pressed for economic liberalization. The central argument of the thesis, the "coalitional view", holds that the process of economic liberalization was propelled by coalitions of factions from both the government and the private sector.; The thesis focuses on policy making in three sectors. In the agricultural sector, we analyze the changes in the land tenure system under the Salinas administration. With regard to banking, we compare the expropriation of the Mexican private banks under President Jose Lopez Portillo, with their subsequent privatization under President Carlos Salinas. In the area of trade, we compare the 1980 decision to abstain from GATT membership with the 1985 decision to seek GATT membership.; The thesis has two major theoretical implications. First, contrary to much of the literature that has addressed the issue of policy making in Mexico, we hold that both the extent of participation in key policy decisions, and the timing of economic policy changes were not significantly affected by outside pressures. Second, the literature has not significantly addressed the question of the possibility of reversing the process of economic liberalization. We argue that the process of economic liberalization could be limited or reversed if a coalition of factions from both the private sector and the government opposed the economic liberalization.