Democracy and Privatization in Neoliberal Mexico
September 2, 2015
Democracy and Privatization in Neoliberal Mexico
by Andrew Smolski
In 1994, Princeton sociologist Miguel Ángel Centeno published a book, Democracy within Reason: Technocratic Revolution in Mexico. Centeno argued that Mexico’s technocratic regime under Carlos Salinas de Gortari (1988-1994) was able to implement widely unpopular privatizations due to the organization of State and bureaucratic power and international support, primarily from the United States and its large financial institutions, along with elite US academics and universities. Centeno described it as a “revolution…directed from above, by a state elite committed to the imposition of a single, exclusive policy paradigm”.
Since then, it has been claimed that Mexico made a “democratic” transition. Yet, this seems ridiculous to say, given the history of policy continuity between the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) and the PAN (National Action Party) from 1988 to the present. Actually, the oil privatization currently underway is a successor policy of Salinas’ technocratic neoliberal regime. The leftist daily newspaper, La Jornada, has gone so far as to label them PRIAN for their continuing shared support of neoliberal policies. As Centeno wrote in 1994, “election results would be respected, but only as long as they supported the right candidate.”
So, even with political party competition, which is what the mainstream academic literature considers democracy, this technocratic regime remains whereby widely unpopular policies are passed without popular consultation. Rather, recent revelations by DeSmog Research Fellow Steve Horn and myself about Mexican oil privatization show that is much more likely that the US Government and transnational corporations were consulted than the Mexican demos itself. The opposition movement to oil privatization called for a popular consultation, which was simply ignored. This happened even though popular consultation is legally mandated to occur if 2% of registered voters petitions for it. That is, the people who have a sovereign interest in Mexican oil were generally excluded from the decision-making process, even when they were formally participating according to the law.
Since Mexico is a ‘democracy’, shouldn’t it be of the utmost importance that the people be consulted about a policy with as large of an impact as oil privatization? Of course, not if you are trying to force through a privatization scheme in the works for at least two decades and know what the Mexican public thinks. As Centeno points out, “the legitimacy of popular participation was accepted only as long as it would support the correct policies.” It is the same now. And what were the Mexican public’s views on oil privatization?
More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/09/02/democracy-and-privatization-in-neoliberal-mexico/
Good reads:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016131365