Welfare Politics in Mexico Papering Over the Cracks

When it was originally published in 1986, this was the first book to deal simultaneously with several aspects of social welfare provision in a developing country. The unique contribution of the book is based on the analysis of 3 substantive welfare areas – land (for self-help housing), urban infrastructure and health – which are examined in terms of the nature, motivation and effectiveness of government intervention. The book covers 3 administrations between 1970 and the mid-1980s and sets the analysis in the wider context of Latin American affairs. The author shows that although social welfare expenditure has increased, its importance as a government priority has been sharply eroded.