This book provides the first detailed examination of the practice of policy analysis in Mexico. It studies how public institutions and other non-state actors gather and review information and ponder options in the process of making (or trying to influence) policy decisions. Its chapters also offer explanations that are helpful for understanding how and why policy analysis activities vary across settings, and why this intellectual activity has made significant progress but is still far from being fully established in the country. While these are questions that have great theoretical and practic ... More

This book provides the first detailed examination of the practice of policy analysis in Mexico. It studies how public institutions and other non-state actors gather and review information and ponder options in the process of making (or trying to influence) policy decisions. Its chapters also offer explanations that are helpful for understanding how and why policy analysis activities vary across settings, and why this intellectual activity has made significant progress but is still far from being fully established in the country. While these are questions that have great theoretical and practical relevance, they had remained rather under-researched until now. The book follows a similar structure to that of other volumes in the International Library of Policy Analysis of the Policy Press. It thus seeks the double objective of telling the intellectual story of Policy Analysis in Mexico, as well as of giving a detailed account of policy analysis as a practical endeavor in the country. Moreover, the book describes how policy analysis takes place in a variety of state institutions and a number of non-state organizations which are permanently and directly involved in public affairs. The comprehensive view that results from this effort should thus be of interest to those who are keen to learn more about policy analysis and policy making in Mexico, and to those who favor comparative policy studies but cannot always access relevant information on developing nations.