Resumo

PETERSEN CORTES, Germán. Institutions, Agents, and Structural Reforms: The Energy Reforms of 2008 and 2013 in Comparative Perspective. Foro int [online]. 2016, vol.56, n.3, pp.657-683. ISSN 0185-013X.

In general terms, there are two major explanations for changes in public policy: institutions and agents. Which of these two explains why an incremental energy reform was approved in Mexico in 2008 -one that tinkered around the edges- and a more radical one in 2013, presenting deep-seated changes? Putting it in theoretical terms, what better explains the incremental or radical character of a structural reform, and in more abstract terms, of the change in public policy? The comparison between the two reforms allows us to argue that the incremental or radical nature of the change is better explained by agents than by institutions.

Palavras-chave : Congress; strategy; Pact for Mexico; energy reform; executive-legislature relationship.