Ugly modernity: Governance, violence, and the money economy in Mexico

Over the past quarter century, Mexico has seen an explosion of violence and violent crime. While this rise is typically attributed to increased drug trafficking and cartel activity, its actual causes are significantly more complex. This Plan examines how failures in economic policy and rapid changes in the relationship between the Mexican government and its citizens have contributed to the state’s increase in violence.

Beginning with the Latin American debt crisis of the early 1980s, Mexico began to move away from authoritarian one-party rule. Strongmen from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), who had ruled the country uncontested for the last 50 years, began to lose power as debt restructuring deals with the IMF and World Bank put pressure on the Mexican economy and political system. Liberal economic and political reforms, undertaken by Mexican presidents Carlos Salinas (88-94) and Ernesto Zedillo (94-00), turned Mexico into a free-market, multi-party democracy. While these reforms have had many benefits, the loss of centralized authoritarian leadership has also increased corruption and reduced services for Mexico’s poor. Without effective, trustworthy government and more opportunities for its most vulnerable citizens, Mexico will likely continue to be destabilized by violence.