Introduction

The subject of this chapter is public policy in the Mexican private sector. It is an attempt to discover how private sector organizations learn about public policies and how they attempt to influence them. That is, what organizations, research centers and tools are available to private sector companies to analyze the socioeconomic and political realities of the country, and what methods and actions can they use to influence public policy.

The chapter is divided into three parts. The first presents a general overview of the main institutions that represent the interests of businessmen and businesswomen, in which emphasis is given to the Confederación Patronal de la República Mexicana (Confederation of Employers of the Mexican Republic, or Coparmex) and the Consejo Mexicano de Hombres de Negocios (Mexican Council of Businessmen, or CMHN). The second section describes some of the research centers that have come into being, such as the Centro de Estudios Económicos del Sector Privado (Center for Economic Studies of the Private Sector, or CEESP). The third part examines business lobbying within the Congress, a new form of business intervention in public policies that arose as a result of the division of power in Mexico at the end of the 20th century. We also take a look at the case of former high-level public officials who have joined Mexican and foreign businesses or who have opened their own consultancy services. This is followed by the conclusion.

Institutions representing business

The historic peculiarities of the Mexican state, the result of the Mexican Revolution, have brought unique features to the relationship between business and the state. The business community began the 20th century on the defensive about their rights and properties. Many businesspeople were in exile, and they ended the century not only at the pinnacle of economic power but also greatly influencing policy at the local, regional and national levels. Businessmen arose with a deficit of political legitimacy and were outside of the party in power. Although they had no political legitimacy or links to the party in power, their interests were represented in various anomalous ways (Alba Vega, 2005 and 2010).