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

Market Reforms in Mexico is an impressive, original, and meticulously argued work that brings a fresh focus to bear on the by-now familiar question of how and why market-oriented reforms are successful. By juxtaposing Mexico's successful program of privatization and deregulation with its largely unsuccessful efforts in the area of environmental reform, Williams persuades us that the capacity to reform is at least as important as the motivation to do so. This rare look inside the state, and the struggles of reformers to forge coalitions, gain leverage over policy, and overcome the opposition of the losers fills in so much of what has been assumed about economic reform that it forces us to rethink many of the most fundamental precepts of our literature on political economy. -- Frances Hagopian, University of Notre Dame Why do governments sometimes succeed and sometimes fail in implementing market-oriented reforms? Mark Williams addresses this key question in political economy with lucidity and clarity. His stunning case studies of economic and environmental policy implementation in Mexico represent first-rate research presented with literary elegance. His work should interest those who think about major policy and institutional reforms and their impacts on governments, businesses, workers, and citizens more generally. -- Jorge I. Dominguez, Harvard University Market Reforms in Mexico goes beyond the first-generation efforts to explain (or ignore) the politics of reform, and complements works emphasizing coalition politics. It is nicely written and easily accessible even to the undergraduate student. Latin American Politics and Society Recommended for upper-division undergraduate through faculty collections. CHOICE