The Political Economy of Mass Media in Mexico

This study focuses on the impacts of media on political outcomes, accountability, and corruption in Mexico. Researchers study the concentration of media ownership by the Mexican Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), one of the longest-lasting authoritarian governments of the twentieth century. Results feature the role of mass media diversity and unsustainable media capture in the Mexican democratic transition, as well as how fractured political power led to higher violence levels from the war against organized crime. The project illustrates the large role media plays in institutional transformation, a result that has important implications for democracy and public policy.