Political Change and Environmental Policymaking in Mexico by Jordi Diez

Author:Jordi Diez [Diez, Jordi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Ethnic Studies, Public Policy, American, Social Science, Political Science, Environmental Policy, Hispanic American Studies, General
ISBN: 9781135520991
Google: ORnfAQAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-10-31T12:15:14+00:00

Epilogue

The Decline of the Environmental Agenda under Vicente Fox

I completed the main component of my research for this study on November 30, 2000. On the morning of December 1, while I packed my things in a hotel room in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, I followed closely on television along with millions of other Mexicans as one of the most important days in contemporary Mexican politics unfolded. We witnessed the handover of power from Ernesto Zedillo to Vicente Fox. The day was indeed a historic one, filled with hope as the newly invested president promised a new democratic beginning to the country and an end to authoritarian practices of the past under the overarching theme of ‘change.’ As the various official ceremonies and celebrations transpired throughout the day, however, one could not help but wonder how much a change in the official presidential residence of Los Pinos would bring about a tangible change to Mexican politics in general, and to policymaking in particular. Historically, the country has witnessed strong and recurring elements of continuismo across its various regimes. The story I have told in this book would be incomplete were I not to make at least a reference to the main developments on environmental policymaking that have taken place since Fox came to power in 2000. I accordingly present a brief account of the main features of the process of environmental policymaking under Fox in an attempt to draw continuities and discontinuities from the previous administration. I base the account on research conducted during the summers of 2004 and 2005.1

Fox appeared to begin fulfilling his promise of change by appointing a cabinet whose composition was unlike those of any his predecessors. Reflecting his professional development in the private sector,2 and arguing that increased accountability required a managerial style of politics,3 he recruited a significant number of individuals from the private sector: two-thirds of his newly appointed ministers had pursued careers in the private sector in the past and nearly half of them owned a private firm or held a high-level management post at the time of their appointment. The recruitment of a cabinet with experience in the private sector was in stark contrast with appointments in the Zedillo administration, in which all of the cabinet ministers emanated from the public sector or academia. Fox also diversified the recruitment process by selecting individuals from different career backgrounds and political persuasions, some of whom were in fact selected by professional headhunters.4 His cabinet – to which he referred as a gabinetazo, or top-flight cabinet – reflected thus more heterogeneity than previous ones, weakening the importance of camarillismo and allowing the possibility for an opening of the policy process at the policy initiation state.5

In regard to the environment portfolio, Fox appointed Victor Lichtinger Waisman as his Minister of the Environment. Lichtinger, an environmental economist with a B.A. in economics from the Autonomous Mexican University of Xochimilco and a M.A. in environmental economics from Stanford University, had, for the most part, worked in public administration, having held several positions related to environmental issues.

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