UNDERSTANDING CONTEMPORARY NETWORKED GOVERNANCE AND REGULATORY CAPACITY IN MEXICO: A STUDY OF OVERSIGHT BODIES IN THE PROCESS OF REGULATION

  • Ana Sanchez Santana

Student thesis: Phd

Abstract

This thesis seeks to address the implementation gap between Mexico's regulatory normative framework, whose design seeks to deliver on certain goals, and the outcomes it has actually delivered. In 2015 Mexico was presented as a leading country in the use of tools of regulatory policy in the OECD's Regulatory Policy Outlook, an assessment of the conditions for good regulation among member countries. In the same year, the country obtained a sub-optimal score in the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report, an assessment whose indicators are proxies for regulatory performance. To explain the gap between the two reports, the thesis adopts a systemic approach by focusing on Mexico's regulatory oversight body, and its role in the coordination of stakeholders and in the delivery of regulations, across different policy sectors. The purpose of focusing on the oversight body is to understand the networked-governance relations it holds with relevant stakeholders and the influence of this dynamic in shaping the country's regulatory capacity. The thesis claims that oversight bodies are crucial means to analyse regulatory governance, and the challenges that emerge from coordinating public and private networks from different policy sectors. Regulation is highly relational and its implementation has to recognize the networked nature of stakeholders along with their differences. Failure to introduce a variegated approach to regulation in the context of different policy sectors, that command contrasting sets of resources, expertise, and level of influence, leads to sub-optimal policy outcomes. To explore the nature of the stakeholders, the research draws on a qualitative research methodology, particularly in elite interviews, to tease out the dynamics underpinning the power relations involved. The thesis contributes to the existing literature on regulation by promoting the role of oversight bodies and regulatory improvement as key concepts that contribute to explain the intricacies of the process of regulation, particularly in its implementation. Both concepts have been understudied, yet the delivery of regulation occurs within their respective frameworks. The thesis also contests traditional approaches in the studies of regulation, and highlights the risks of not adopting a cross-cutting perspective in its analysis and implementation.
Date of Award1 Aug 2019
Original languageEnglish
Awarding Institution
  • The University of Manchester
SupervisorFrancesca Gains (Supervisor) & David Richards (Supervisor)

Keywords

  • Governance
  • Regulatory Improvement
  • Mexico
  • Regulation
  • Oversight Bodies

Cite this

'