THE ROLE OF THE 'TECNICO' IN POLICY-MAKING IN MEXICO: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF A DEVELOPING BUREAUCRACY Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Camp, Roderic A. Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 23/09/2021 14:16:07 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/290248 70-23,664 CAMP, Roderic Ai, 1945^ THE ROLE OF THE TECNICO IN POLICY MAKING IN MEXICO} A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF A DEVELOPING BUREAUCRACY. University of Arizona, Ph.D., 1970 Political Science, general i • University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan [ i ! THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED THE ROLE OF THE TECNICO IN POLICY MKING IN MEXICO: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF A DEVELOPING BUREAUCRACY by Roderic Ai Camp A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 1970 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE I hereby recommend that this dissertation prepared under my direction by Roderic Ai Gamp entitled The Role of the Tecnico in Policy Making in Mexico: A Comparative Study of a Developing Bureaucracy be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy /o 7 J Dissertation Director Date ' After inspection of the final copy of the dissertation, the following members of the Final Examination Committee concur in its approval and recommend its acceptance:" cxh—o THxy '*/ #*> j- /%V ^ /9 70 $4 Ci^ t\i ti 7tt This approval and acceptance is contingent on the candidate's adequate performance and defense of this dissertation at the final oral examination. The inclusion of this sheet bound into the library copy of the dissertation is evidence of satisfactory performance at the final examination. I STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. r* Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his judgement the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNEDBP: CsftvyO ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Parts of the following study were begun at various stages during the past three years. During that time, staffs of several libraries have helped to make the re­ search a shorter process. I would like to thank the staffs of the Bancroft Library, the Hispanic Law section of the Library of Congress, the Inter-American Development Bank Library, the Pan American Union Columbus Memorial Library, the Joint World Bank Library, the University of Illinois Library and the staff of the Social Science and Government Documents section of the University of Arizona Library. Several individuals were particularly helpful in assisting the author in obtaining additional information. I would like to thank Hugo B. Margain, Harold Graves, Felipe Pazos, Antonio Ruiz Galindo, Francisco Borja, and Leonard Silk for help in this area. For continued inter­ est and assistance, without which this study would not have been possible, I am indebted to Jose' Juan de Olloqui, Alfredo Phillips 0., and Luis Szekely. Last and most im­ portant, I am especially grateful to my major professor, Paul Kelso, for steering me into this field of research, and for valuable suggestions and critical comments along the way. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix ABSTRACT x INTRODUCTION 1 Approaches to the Study of Bureaucracy 6 Terminology 11 Public Administration and Policy 11 Policy Decisions and Policy 12 Methods of Policy Making by the Bureaucracy ... 13 Rule-making 13 Communication . 17 Advice 17 Formulation 19 Cooperation . ..... 19 Publicity and Propaganda 20 MEXICO'S BUREAUCRACY 22 Operating Characteristics of Bureaucracy: Mexico. 27 Organizational Characteristics of Mexico's Bureaucracy 47 HISTORICAL ROLE OF TECNICOS IN POLICY MAKING 54 First Six-Year Plan 57 Second Six-Year Plan 63 Fiscal Policy 64 TECNICO DECISION MAKING AND PLANNING IN MEXICO .... 75 The Special Position of the Bank of Mexico .... 79 Coordinated Financial Policy Making in Mexico . 85 Cooperation and Competition in Decision Making . 93 Centro Nacional de Productivad 95 THE CABINET AND THE TECNICO IN MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES 98 iv V TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Page TWO CASE STUDIES IN POLICY MAKING 132 Backgrovmd Characteristics of Both Systems . 133 Problem to Government Stage 149 Perception and Definition of Problem .... 149 Placing the Definition on the Problem Agenda 155 Methods 156 Policy Formulation Stage 157 Perception and Definition in Policy Formulation . ....... 159 Problem Consideration 159- Strategic Consideration 162 Procedural Consideration 166 Substantive Consideration 167 The Discussion Agenda in Policy Formulation 170 Problem Consideration 170 Strategic Consideration 177 Procedural Consideration 180 Substantive Consideration 189 Methods 192 The Bargaining Agenda in Policy Formulation 192 Problem Consideration 193 Strategic Consideration 196 Procedural Consideration 204 Substantive Consideration ........ 208 Methods 209 The Course of Action Agenda in Policy Formulation 212 Problem Consideration 212 Strategic Consideration 214 Procedural and Substantive Consideration. 220 Methods 223 CONCLUSION 226 APPENDIX A: SOURCE MATERIAL FOR TABLES ........ 239.. ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 242 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Bureaucrats in Mexico: First and Last Positions of Employment 35 2. Cabinet-level Positions in Mexico: Ranked in Order by Number and Per­ centage of Times Held by a Tecnico .... 101 3. Cabinet Departments in the United States Ranked in Order of Number and Per­ centage of Times Held by a Bureau­ crat 102 4. Bureaucratic and Technically-Trained Cabinet-level Ministers in Mexico 104 5. Bureaucratic and Technically-Trained Cabinet-level Ministers in the United States 106 6. Orientation of Ministries and Educational Attainments of Higher Bureaucrats in Mexico 108 7. Levels of Education by Cabinet Department in the United States 109 8. Cabinet-level Ministers in Mexico: Number of Repeating Ministers by Position .... 112 9. Cabinet-level Ministers in Mexico: Number and Percentage of Positions Filled by a Repeating Minister in Each Adminis­ tration 113 10. Heads of Cabinet-level Ministries and Departments in Mexico . 115 11. Heads of Cabinet Departments in the United States Since 1933 119 12. Cabinet-level Ministers in Mexico: Number and Percentage by Educational Institu­ tion Who Taught as a Profession 121 vi vii LIST OP TABLES (Continued) Table Page 13. Bureaucrats in Mexico: Number and Percentage by Educational Institu­ tion Who Taught as a Profession 122 14. Cabinet-level Ministers in Mexico: Number and Percentage by Administration Who Taught at UNAM 122 15. Cabinet Ministers in the United States: Number and Percentage by Administration V/ho Taught as a Profession 123 16. Cabinet-level Ministers in Mexico: Number and Percentage Who Have a Bachelor's Degree in any field 125 17. Cabinet-level Ministers in Mexico: Number and Percentage V/ho Have a College Degree in a Field Other Than Law or a Graduate Degree . 125 18. Cabinet-level Ministers in Mexico: Number and Percentage by Administration Who Graduated from the National Universi­ ty 125 19. Bureaucrats in Mexico: Number and Per­ centage by Educational Institution Having a College Degree 126 20. Bureaucrats in Mexico: Number and Per­ centage by Field Who Have College Degrees 126 21. Cabinet Secretaries in the United States: Number and Percentage by Administration Who Received a College Degree in a Field Other than Law or Liberal Arts or a Graduate Degree 126 22. Cabinet-level Ministers in Mexico: Number and Percentage of Bureaucrats and Bureaucratic-Technicians by Administra­ tion 127 viii LIST OF TABLES (Continued) Table page 23. Cabinet Secretaries in the United States: Number and Percentage by Administra­ tion of Bureaucrats and Bureaucratic Technicians 128 24. Cabinet-level Ministers in Mexico: Average Age by Administration 129 25. Cabinet-level Ministers in Mexico: Number and Percentage by Administration of Geographical Location Before Appointment 130 26. Cabinet Secretaries in the United States: Number and Percentage by Administra­ tion of Geographical Location Before Appointment 130 27. Mexican Bureaucrats: Number and Percentage of Place of Birth by Geographical Location and Urban-Rural Distribu­ tion 131 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1. Stages of the Policy-making Approach 10 2. General Hierarchy of Cabinet Ministers in Mexico 39 3. The Six Year Plan in the Policy-Making Process 60 4. The Papaloapan Oommission in the Policy­ making Process 73 5. Graphic Account of the Problem Identifi­ cation Stage and the Perception and Definition of the Problem Process in the Policy Formulation Stage of the Policy-making Approach 169 6. Graphic Account of the Discussion Agenda in the Policy Formulation Stage of the Policy-making Approach 191 7. Graphic Account of the Bargaining Agenda in the Policy Formulation Stage of the Policy-making Approach 211 8. Graphic Account of the Course of Action Agenda in the Policy Formulation Stage of the Policy-making Approach 224 ix ABSTRACT The bureaucracy in developing countries and espe­ cially in Latin America is a neglected institution in studies by political scientists. This study attempts to make a contribution in filling that void by analyzing the role of economically-trained bureaucrats in Mexico and by examining the decision-making process within the Mexican bureaucracy.