Abstract

Chapter
First Online: 04 May 2022
Part of the Local and Urban Governance book series (LUG)

Abstract

In March 2020, due to the health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the state government of Jalisco was one of the first in Mexico to implement precautionary measures and take specific actions, some of which differed clearly from the strategies dictated by the federal government. This has given rise to political disagreements between these two levels of government. Two main strategies were implemented at the state level: 1) a hierarchical form of governance that subordinated municipal governments to state ordinances; and 2) panels composed of state officials, business people, representatives of universities, and members of civil associations that defined health and economic actions with broad impact. These two strategies were pillars for developing the epidemiological detection system, the hospital reconversion program, the economic reactivation plan, and health protocols that demonstrated the state’s capacity to respond to the health and economic crisis. The objective of this chapter is to analyze the policies, strategies, and actions in the areas of health and the economy implemented by the government of Jalisco and other actors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the alliances, negotiations, and conflicts that formed in the first year (March 2020 to March 2021). To this end, events from the first case detected in Mexico have been reconstructed, followed by the elaboration of a trajectory of the actions undertaken in relation to the phases of the epidemiological contingency. The analysis is based on primary information from official sources, as well as newspaper reports and documents prepared by civil associations and other institutions. This approach allowed us to analyze the main strategies, public policies, and financial measures on which Jalico’s governance model was based, and to distinguish between successful actions and those that have had only a palliative effect.

Cite this chapter
Lozano-Uvario, K.M., Rosales-Ortega, R. (2022). Jalisco versus COVID-19: Local Governance and the Response to Health, Social, and Economic Emergency. In: Nunes Silva, C. (eds) Local Government and the COVID-19 Pandemic. Local and Urban Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91112-6_23

Keywords