Mexico and social provision by the federal government and the federal district: Obstacles and openings to a Social Protection Floor

Abstract

This article examines the lessons that can be drawn from social protection programs in Mexico at both the national and sub-national scales for the Social Protection Floor (SPF) initiative for the implementation of the Global Social Floor proposal in Mexico. Mexico’s federal anti-poverty program, Progresa/Oportunidades, was a pioneer in the application of a social investment paradigm to the provision of social benefits to the extreme poor, and the targeting of benefits. At the same time, the left-leaning Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD) governments of the Federal District have introduced an ambitious new series of social programs at the municipal scale. PRD governments have directly criticized the targeting and surveillance involved in the Oportunidades program. Instead, the PRD has advocated more universalistic approaches to social policy, based on principles of social rights. This article examines the areas of congruence and dissonance between these Mexican innovations in social policy and the SPF initiative.