NAFTA and Democracy in Mexico: A Successful Failure?

After describing NAFTA as the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere, Donald Trumps election seemed to represent the final nail in the coffin for North American economic integration. Following a decade of stagnation, however, Trumps victory presents a timely opportunity to reconsider North American integration and evaluate NAFTAs democratic track record in Mexico.

In this book, Pablo Calderón Martínez presents a detailed analysis of NAFTAs influence as a political tool for democracy in Mexico. Extending beyond a mere economic or social exploration of the consequences of NAFTA, Calderón Martínez uses a three-tiered analysis based on causality mechanisms to explain how the interactions between internationalisation and democratisation unfolded in Mexico. Calderón Martínezs analysis demonstrates that Mexicos internationalisation project under the framework of NAFTA gave shape to, if not made, Mexicos democratisation process.

An original and timely resource for scholars and students interested in understanding how in cases like Mexico where transitions to democracy are characterised by a finely poised balance of power small influences from abroad can make significant long-lasting differences domestically.