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Los Técnicos and the Role of Ideas: Unraveling Mexico's Transition to Trade Liberalization

Abstract:The international political economy literature features competing explanations for when states move from protectionist to liberal trade policies, and when states transition from authoritarian to democratic regimes. The concepts of interests, institutions, and ideas are the most commonly accepted accounts for those transitions. I examine each of these concepts in order to explain Mexico's transition from a strict economic policy of import substitution industrialization (ISI) to one of trade liberalization following the 1982 debt crisis, identified as part of a critical juncture. In particular, I challenge the conventional belief that domestic institutions best explain transitions from ISI to trade liberalization, and the associated causal relationship between democratization and trade liberalization. I find democratization does not necessarily lead to trade liberalization. Using process tracing and in-depth case-oriented analysis, I identify the educational lineage of Mexico's executives and argue although interests and institutions played a role in the state's economic transition, the role of ideas has been overlooked and provides a nuanced causal explanation for the case. The research approach taken in this article allows for the framework to be transported to other states that underwent similar economic transitions without democratizing.