Bringing Willingness Back in: State Capacities and the Human Rights Compliance Deficit in Mexico

This article relates to international relations literature, which explores the domestic conditions under which governments are more likely to comply with their international human rights commitments. Emerging literature has emphasized the role of "state capacities" as a key variable in explaining the gap between commitment and compliance, taking the willingness of states for granted and therefore not exploring it empirically in an explicit fashion. Using Mexico as a "crucial" case study, this article's main argument is that while it is true that attempts to explain poor compliance must take into account "capacities," they must also include "willingness" as a central explanatory factor. Beyond exploring the case of Mexico, this article contributes to the development of theories of compliance with international human rights norms and to the conceptualization and operationalization of the notions of state capacities and state willingness.