Nation-state global city tensions in social policy: the case of Mexico City's rising social city-zenship

Abstract

Comparative analyses of welfare systems have largely proceeded on the basis that coherent nation-states exist. This assumption was always problematic – as many theorists have acknowledged – but globalisation processes have added a further dimension to this debate, not least because of the increasing power of global cities that act as coordinating hubs for the global economy. Although residing in nation-states, these cities have a special status flowing from their central role in the global economy with often rather different economic, demographic and social contexts. While there is growing literature on global cities, what the rise of these cities means for social policy and for welfare states remains an underexplored issue. Here we outline some key issues the rise of global cities presents for welfare states before proceeding to illustrate both theoretical and practical issues we highlight through a case study of Mexico City.

Keywords:

• global cities
• welfare
• Mexico City

Acknowledgements

This work is the outcome of a series of discussions that have taken place within the Worldwide University Network's (WUN) “Global/Mega Cities” Research Network. The authors are grateful to other members of the network for their contribution to the thinking that lead to this paper, particularly those who participated in the initial seminar held at the University of York, UK, in July 2009 that was supported with funding from the WUN. Some aspects of the paper were presented at a workshop hosted by the Departamento de Estudios Institucionales, Universidad Autónoma de México, Mexico, in November 2011 and a draft version of the paper was presented at the Joint East Asian Social Policy Research Network/UK Social Policy Association Annual Conference held at the University of York, UK, in July 2012. The authors are grateful to those who attended both of these events for the useful feedback they provided and to the Universidad Autónoma de México for supporting J. Hudson to attend the former event and the UK Social Policy Association for providing A. Medrano with support to attend the latter event under its International Conference Support Scheme. They are also grateful to the anonymous referees and the editors of this journal for their constructive comments and helpful suggestions.

Notes

There has been an important advantage, however; the Federal District can levy some particular kinds of taxes, which, in the case of the states, is an exclusive faculty of municipalities. Among other factors, this capacity has helped the city increase its tax revenues since 2000 (Lajous, 2009, p. 71).

A policy paradigm, as is defined here, comprises a relatively coherent set of scientific, technical and normative assumptions that provide guidelines to define a policy problem, as well as to delineate the corresponding prescriptive elements to tackle it (Surel, 2000). They are commonly shared by a group of policy actors, which limit the range of alternatives “likely to be perceived as useful and worth considering” (Campbell, 2004, p. 385).

We should note that the Mexico City's former mayor also faced opposition from political parties within the local legislative body – but we focus on inter-governmental rather than intra-governmental battles here due to space limits.

After 1994, the Mexican government started a process of reform in the health sector. Overall, this reform has reorganised the public health services following a “minimalist” perspective of the role of state in the provision of health services and an under-decentralisation logic (López-Arellano & Blanco Gil, 2008).

The changing dynamics of Mexican electoral politics has reinforced the processes documented here. Traditionally, Mexico City's mayors have been potential presidential candidates due to the political weight of the capital city, especially after 1997, and the city's social policy has enhanced their political presence at local and national level. In the last two presidential elections, in 2006 and 2012, former mayors have played significant roles: Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2000–2006) ran for the presidency while Marcelo Ebrard (2006–2012) participated in the intra-party candidate selection processes for presidential election in 2012. This party political variable has made the city's battle for political and policy autonomy particularly complex.