Political change and environmental policymaking in Mexico.
Published: 2004
Language: eng
Number of pages: 333
Description: Taking the policymaking process as a vehicle to understanding political change in Mexico, and based on the results of filed research presented here, this dissertation advances the thesis that environmental policymaking during the administration of Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon (1994--2000) was a partially open process as it incorporated the demands of some societal actors and it involved the active participation of Members of Congress. This points to a departure from the traditional exclusionary decision and policymaking practices that characterized traditional PRI rule and which were reinforced in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In part, the opening of the process has followed the strengthening of the environmental movement. However, the openness of the policy process was not equally accessed by the actors given that the private sector was able to have privileged access through informal mechanisms. This points to further entrenchment of the specialized and non-transparent channels of access the private sector has had during the process of political change in Mexico. Environmental policymaking was also characterized by the continued exclusion of groups, such as indigenous organizations, as they were effectively left out of the process. This study also attempts to show, through an analysis of the implementation of forestry policy in the Selva Lacandona of Chiapas, that there was a gap between the formulation and implementation of environmental policy. This gap is the result of a series of obstacles that environmental institutions face to implement policy fully, obstacles that stem mostly from the socio-economic exclusion the majority of the population experience as well as entrenched power structures. Essentially, it appears that forestry policy is inadequate to solve the problem of deforestation in the state.
Notes: Adviser: Judith Teichman.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Toronto, 2004.

Electronic version licensed for access by U. of T. users.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 65-05, Section: A, page: 1940.