Graduate Student, Politics and International Relations
Thesis Title: The Politics of Agency Design: Politics and the Forging of Autonomous Agencies in Mexico
About
I am interested in how institutions shape politics, political organisations and policy outcomes and the ways that politics and policies shape institutions in both developed and transitional countries. At the most basic level I explore the effects of politics and institutions in policy outcomes –the politics of policies and organisations.
My PhD thesis in Politics at Oxford University explored the ways in which actors and institutions matter for regulation in transitional countries. I use a toolkit of institutional economics, game theory and network bureaucratic analysis to explain the variations in the degree of independence of the autonomous agencies resulting from the process of creation that came together with a transition to democracy. I found that regulatory agencies’ forms do not arise reflexively or automatically in response to environmental demands on government or because of the ability of the presidents and their reform teams to move their modernisation agenda forward. The final organisational design of these autonomous agencies might come into being as a result of conflicts played out within the constraints and opportunities provided by historically derived institutions and the interaction among diverse political and bureaucratic coalitions. This resulted in a muddle of agencies, lacking coherence and with different degrees of autonomy and subject to different levels of political control.
I intend to expand my empirical research to investigate how political actors react to institutional change in both developed and emerging economies, with particular, but not exclusive, reference to Latin America and Eastern Europe.
Prior to studying at Oxford, I worked as an assistant professor and research associate at the Centre of Studies in Public Administration at UNAM, where I wrote several background papers. One of these papers, which provided a conceptual and methodological basis for studying the role played by bureaucrats in shaping Mexico's economic institutions during the structural reforms, was published in a peer - reviewed journal in Mexico. A second version of this work will be published in an edited book shortly. As Assistant Professor of Public Policy, and most recently as Tutor in Latin American Politics at the University of Oxford, I developed a teaching portfolio focusing on public policy, institutional economics and democratization at both undergraduate and graduate levels.
Also I have got extensive high-level experience in policy design and implementation. I rose in the ranks to high-level government posts in Mexico; most recently as advisor to two deputy Ministers at the central government. My activities focused in policy analysis, regulation, climate change, corruption controlling, reengineering and institutional reform.
I was awarded with the Gabino Barreda Medal in Political Science by the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 2000.
Contact Information
The Latin American Centre
1 Church Walk
Oxford OX2 6JF
United Kingdom
01865284715