COVID-19 y castigo: medidas punitivas y coercitivas para atender la emergencia sanitaria a nivel subnacional en México

Abstract

The article analize the main punitive and coercive measures adopted at the subnational level in Mexico to contain the transmission of COVID-19. This paper argues that the institutional changes promoted by the state governments give evidence on the preference of governmental and partisan actors for ¿iron fist¿ policies to attend to the health emergency. The article examines the actions proposed by the governments of the 32 states of Mexico to control the increase in the number of infections. Among the findings, the preference of governments for punitive and coercive measures at the subnational level produced an institutional redesign; in other words, agreements, decrees, and, in more worrying cases, criminal reforms to punish those who spread the virus, with serious implications on the democratization process at the local level.