Dissertation Information for Victoria Elizabeth Rodriguez NAME: - Victoria Elizabeth Rodriguez
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- Public Administration
SCHOOL:
- University of California, Berkeley (USA) (1987)
ADVISORS: - None COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - None
MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected
Title: The politics of decentralization in Mexico: Divergent outcomes of policy implementation
Abstract: "This research analyzes the political and administrative aspects of Mexico's current decentralization policy. The period under study is 1982 to 1986 and centers on two cases: (1) the government agency Desarrollo Integral de la Familia (DIF), a welfare agency that attempts to generate political support by providing social assistance services and which has pursued an ambitious program of decentralization since 1982; and (2) the municipal reform of 1984, which was designed to redistribute political power among Mexico's three levels of government and represents the cornerstone of the entire decentralization effort.
A comparative analysis of these two case studies illustrates the divergent outcomes of decentralization as implemented: while the effort to decentralize the DIF was quite successful, such has not been the case with the municipal reform. This study argues that the political context of policy implementation is the variable which explains the government's success in decentralizing the DIF and its shortcomings at municipal reform.
The concepts that guide this analysis are deconcentration and devolution. Both of these modes of decentralization signify the dispersion of functions and authority from the center to the periphery. This study shows that devolution is more difficult to implement because it involves grants of autonomy to subordinate units and is more political in nature. Through an analysis of organizational linkages, this research assesses the impact of decentralization on Mexico's intergovernmental relations and illustrates the difficulties implicit in the devolution of political power from the center to two inferior levels of government.
Mexico's strongly centralist one-party political system is going through its most serious crisis of legitimacy in modern times. The main argument of this study is that the decentralization currently pursued by the Mexican regime represents an effort to arrest the erosion of its legitimacy. In an effort to hold on to power, the regime is attempting to improve its governance (administration), one aspect of which is the decentralization of political power and administative decision-making. Yet the underlying objective of decentralization of Mexico, this study contends, is for the center to retain ultimate political control: to centralize by decentralizing."
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MPACT Scores for Victoria Elizabeth Rodriguez A = 0
C = 1
A+C = 1
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-06-30 20:24:45
Advisors and Advisees Graph
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