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Welfare Retrenchment as Social Justice: Pension Reform in Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 August 2007

PATRIK MARIER
Affiliation:
(Contact author) Canada Research Chair in Comparative Public Policy, Department of Political Science, Concordia University, 1455 Blvd de Maisonneuve West, Montreal, Quebec H3G 1M8 email: [email protected]
JEAN F. MAYER
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Concordia University email: [email protected]

Abstract

This article analyses critically the applicability of current theories of welfare state retrenchment to the 2004 public pension reform in Mexico, with the 1995 reform acting as a complementary case. In particular, this article contributes to the literature by analysing the reasons for which a potentially unpopular reform was successfully enacted. Available evidence suggests that – contrary to the existing literature's assertions – Mexican politicians responsible for the 2004 reform sought credit for these changes, rather than to avoid blame. Also, by presenting the reform as necessary to enhance socioeconomic equality, politicians were able to gather substantial popular support and defeat labour unions opposing this pension restructuring process. Hence, we propose that by framing the public debate as a matter of social justice, promoters of pension reform increased significantly popular support for the retrenchment of important benefits from a core group of civil servants, and successfully pressured Congress to promulgate this reform. We suggest that this created a reform path that will facilitate future efforts at reforming the remaining public pension schemes in Mexico.

Type
Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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