Nolan Reflects on Stability of One-Party Rule
On September 6, 2023, Rachel Nolan, Assistant Professor of International Relations at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, was quoted in a New York Times article on the relationship between the state and crime syndicates in Mexico.
The article discusses the 2014 mass abduction in Mexico, where the state and local cartels conspired to hijack 43 college students in Ingala, Guerrero. Nolan discussed the origin of the state’s role in collaborating with cartels, highlighting the political stability from single-party domination.
An excerpt of Nolan’s feature:
The democratic system in Mexico did not fully open until the year 2000. So when you have one-party rule, it’s very easy to have collusion with cartels because you have a lot of stability.
Read the full article on The New York Times website.
Rachel Nolan is a historian of modern Latin America. Her research focuses on political violence, Central American civil wars, childhood and the family, historical memory, and U.S.-Latin American relations. She is currently completing a book manuscript on the history of international adoption from Guatemala. Read more about Professor Nolan on her faculty profile.