How transparency improves public accountability: The extractive industries transparency initiative in Mexico

Abstract

A positive relationship between the adoption of transparency and public accountability in oil policy is confirmed through a process tracing based on the policy design framework. The formalization of Mexico′s candidacy during the Peña Nieto administration is used as a case study to build this causal mechanism. The process leading to this policy outcome is triggered by the adoption of transparency during the agenda setting, which leads to the formulation of a new oil policy including explicit transparency measures. This new policy produces an institutional change in cross-sectorial coordination to secure transparency, which leads the national government to institutionalize non-State actors and local governments participation in the political interplays.