To what extent American cities are evolving towards a model in which their government is (or is not) adapting its structure to their growing Mexican immigrant population? What are the main factors for such transformation to take place? What is the role of the Mexican government in the process?...

This “white paper†simply defines the police forces of Mexico, describes police organizations and identifies some of their major challenges. Mexican police institutions are complex, multifarious and changing; as a result, function and jurisdiction emerge as two key ways to understand...

This paper explores several potential avenues for police reform, focusing on the analysis of comparative experience from abroad. The paper is divided into three sections. First, it locates the question of police discretion as the central dilemma for reformers. Second, it posits accountability,...

The flow of money sent home by Mexican migrants in the United States has grown impressively since 1990. New actors, new practices, as well as new economic and political interests have emerged around this process. This presentation will analyze recent trends in migrant remittances to Mexico as...

This paper gives an overview of four phases in the social construction of crime and criminality in Mexico since the Independence era. It argues that these phases follow a pattern in which a criminal justice paradigm is gradually consolidated and eventually superseded. It then examines some of...

The intention of this paper is to go beyond the scattered research that has been done using public opinion surveys to compare victims to non-victims. Presently, there is a lack of surveys that allow this comparison, and include measurement of key social concepts (constructs) such as...

This paper is an overview of perceptions of crime in Mexico City during the twentieth century. After a brief review of quantitative evidence and the main sources on crime, the paper surveys police and judicial corruption as the common denominator of public perceptions of crime, punishment, and...

This paper analyzes the budgetary choices of municipal governments in Mexico. Using a panel data approach that includes most municipalities in the country throughout the 1990-2001 period, I investigate to what extent local democracy has stimulated municipal governments to increase their...

In this paper I trace the changing practice and politics of North American border controls and analyze the implications of these changes for cross-border relations and continental integration. More than ever, I suggest, North American relations are driven by the politics of border control. I...