Synopses & Reviews
This engaging and cogently argued book provides a uniquely broad and accessible analysis of Mexico's contemporary struggle for democratic development. Linking Mexico's current state to Mexico-U.S. and other international considerations, Daniel C. Levy and Kathleen Bruhn, collaborating with Emilio Zebadua, offer rich perspectives from both sides of the border. They examine the relationship between democratization and economic change in an internationalized setting. Linking events of recent years--including the most democratic presidential election in Mexican history and a peaceful change of party rule--to pivotal episodes of Mexico's past, the authors focus on politics but also consider critical historical and economic dimensions.
Authoritarian rule in Mexico's past brought political stability and economic growth, but democracy has become central to reconstructing those historic achievements. Democracy is also important for Mexico to address tragically neglected aspects of development, especially inequality. Yet there are many obstacles to democratization, which in itself does not guarantee broadly based development. Both the challenges and the opportunities for Mexico are intertwined with the country's efforts to align itself with major world tendencies, and the line between U.S. and Mexican foreign and domestic policy continues to blur.
Mexico: The Struggle for Democratic Development discusses a variety of issues ranging from electoral reform and accountability to drug trafficking and migration. With a foreword by Lorenzo Meyer, the book considers the rapidly changing role of Mexico's mass and elite groups, as well as institutions such as the media, the military, the Church, andinfluential U.S. institutions. An analysis of the consequences of NAFTA brings this stimulating and informative study up to the present moment.
Synopsis
This engaging book provides a broad and accessible analysis of Mexico's contemporary struggle for democratic development. Now completely revised, it brings up to date issues ranging from electoral reform and accountability to drug trafficking, migration, and NAFTA. It also considers the rapidly changing role of Mexico's mass and elite groups, and its national institutions, including the media, the military, and the Church.
Synopsis
PRAISE FOR THE FIRST
About the Author
Daniel C. Levy, Distinguished Professor at the State University of New York, Albany, is the coauthor of Mexico: Paradoxes of Stability and Change (1983). Kathleen Bruhn, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is the author of Taking on Goliath: The Emergence of a New Left Party and the Struggle for Democracy in Mexico (1997). Emilio Zebadand#250;a, Harvard University Ph.D. and ex-Secretary of Political Affairs for the state of Chiapas, is now a member of the Mexican Congress.
Table of Contents
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Acknowledgments
Map
Foreword by Lorenzo Meyer
1. The Changing Course of Development
2. Legacies of Undemocratic Development
3. The Rise of Political Competition
4. Difficult Democracy
5. The State and the Market
6. Mexico in a U.S.-Led World
7. Bilateral Issues
8. The Struggle for Democratic Development
Notes
Selected References
Index