Mexico in North American Free Trade Agreement:: Promoting Democratic Institutions on Labour Rights

Mexican employment policies have changed in the twenty-first century as a result of a twofold set of influences, the internal and international changes. There are different causes in each arena. Some of these are, in the internal arena, the end in the Mexican corporatist model and, in the international, the fact that NAFTA provided mechanisms to the civil society in order to demand appropriate enforcement of labour rights. As a consequence there is a new generation of governmental support through active labour market policies. Nowadays the state provides benefits for the unemployed formal workers and social protection coverage for the informal and self-employed workers. The changes in the employment provisions have proved to be an adjustment particularly affected by the side agreement, North American Agreement on Labour Cooperation. This is building a democratic society through an international democratic mechanism, the Commission for Labour Cooperation. That is the reason why this is a valuable work for scholars, students and anyone interested in Mexican employment policies and the consequences of NAFTA.