Actors and social policy innovation at state-level: An analytical framework for the case of Mexico

Abstract

The role of sub-national governments as social policy innovators has been scarcely studied, especially in Latin America. In Mexico, state governments have been more active in designing and implementing their own social policy initiatives over the last decade. The aim of this work is to develop an analytical framework focused on the role of policy actors in the process of policy innovation at state level, especially in the countries where state-level policy innovation is incipient, such as in Mexico. This analytical framework emphasizes the importance of paying attention to the characteristics of key actors, in a context of particular political and institutional factors, in order to understand the complex processes involved in social policy innovation at state-level. KEYWORDS: Policy Change, Policy Entrepreneurship, Subnational Policy, Policy Ideas.